Stones, Stars, and Songs
by TheUnseenDonger
Summary: The Vibreal Region; A land of unmatched splendor, challenge, and sights has opened for the world to see! Four friends are some of the first to make it Vibreal after receiving invites from the region's professor. He's quite the generous man for the opportunity he's giving them, but he has a request for the adventurers. Almost as odd as what else is happening. (Pokephilia, Lemon)
1. Chapter 1, Here We Go Again!

Sometimes, when I had the privilege to look over the sea, endless yet undisturbed, save for the trail the large ship left behind slicing through the glassy surface, I wish I would've embarked on boats before; they weren't as nauseating as the old me thought they were. With the way things were going, I wasn't having any regrets.

"A fine breeze, huh?" The Captain of the ship said, resting his crossed arms over the guardrail.

"It's excellent." My friend Peter responded, nodding. The man had to tuck a bit of his blonde hair back, since the gust wasn't being too kind to it.

"Thanks for bringing us here, sir!" Yamka cheered.

"I always look out to help people, and you four are a fine bunch." The Captain responded. "So tell me, what's the deal with this new region anyways?"

"The four of us received invitations to come there." I replied. "We've always wanted to be trainers, but we never had the chance."

"We had to go to school instead. I still think it was a waste of time." Yamka sighed.

"A good education allows for a better life afterwards, I assure you." The Captain explained. "Although, what am I saying? I didn't get any myself."

"Is that so?" Tabitha asked. "How'd you get a cruise ship then?"

"I became a trainer at an early age. Got myself a large sum of money." He said. "I'm retired now, but maybe I'll go back one day."

"Did something happen?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter much." The Captain explained. "This is your trip, my friends! Four early adults ready to finally learn the ropes of becoming a trainer. Exciting."

"I hope it's as fun as they say it is." Peter replied.

"Even if it isn't, we still have a place to live there. Food, heating, everything we need to survive." Tabitha informed him.

"Come on, guys!" Yamka yelled. "Aren't you at least a little bit excited to have a fun journey with your friends? I'm happy that I get to do this with you guys beside me!"

"No problem, girl." Tabitha responded. "You're a fun gal to be around, all of you. I'm glad we all agreed."

"What else was I going to do, go work at the radio station?" I joked.

"I think this is a much better alternative." Peter added. We stopped talking, instead looking into the endless ocean.

Seeing this made me wonder why my friends and I were chosen out of every single other person to go a new region with the goals of testing the new Pokemon League there. I always had a small interest in it, but taking on that life seemed a bit risky, since I might not be able to support myself if I chose it. But being a trainer might add a bit of spice to my life, and besides, if it didn't I always have the home that they offered me, too. Would I be any good as a trainer? I took a moment to look at my friends. Yamka, the black-haired giddy girl might have a good shot at being the best of us. She definitely has the emotion and dedication to do whatever she wants, and I don't think she'll shy away from this opportunity. She might be a little small compared to the rest of us, looking like a late teen instead of someone going over twenty. Peter, on the other hand, had that cool, calculated personality to learn all the ropes and tricks to battling. He probably had at least looked a bit of stuff up online as I had. Tabitha, however, likely shared the same semi-optimistic view about this that I did. We had a good team, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Will! I have sights of our destination off in the distance!" A crewman shouted from an upper deck. The Captain nodded, walking towards the front of the ship. Yamka was quick to follow him, and the rest of us trailed behind them. After a short walk, I could make out a small island in the distance. It was probably not even the size of a city block, with a few trees here and there. A large dock occupied the right side of the island, made to dock multiple ships of this size.

"Quite a place it is." Will remarked, placing his hands in his pockets.

"It's a bit small." Tabitha added.

"There's probably more to it." Peter explained. "Maybe a bigger island further in."

"I haven't explored these seas, so I wouldn't know." Will replied. "But this is definitely where we should be going." The Captain turned around, turning his head to the upper decks. "JERICHO! LAND US ON THE DOCKS!"

"Understood, sir!" The Crewman shouted back. The ship swayed slightly, changing course to match the dock's location. A few splashes of water landed harmlessly on us, and Yamka playfully opened her mouth in an attempt to taste the seawater. She would immediately regret this decision as she spit what she had caught onto the deck. I continued to observe our destination and the horizon, looking for another island or something. What caught my eye was a distant figure sitting on the beach of our destination. After a few moments I could make him out. It was someone dressed in black, a fishing pole in his hands that was cast into the ocean. Suddenly they stood up, pulling back their line. The figure viciously tugged in its capture, flinging something out of the water. For some reason, the image of the man or woman getting that fish stuck to my mind. It was glittering mysteriously, shining in the rays of the sun. After depositing his catch on the beach, the figure reached into its pocket to pull out what appeared to be a Pokeball. A quick throw sent the fish into it, and after retrieving the ball, they finally caught notice of the huge ship coming towards them. They quickly placed the ball in their pockets, sprinting over to the docks.

"Alright everyone, this is where you get off." Will explained, turning around to go back to the main deck. We followed behind him, and I finally managed to get my eyes off the figure to go with them.

"Do you think we'll see you again?" Yamka asked.

"Nah, I'm usually very busy." Will replied. "I've got guests of my own, you know."

"Well, thanks for giving us a ride." Tabitha responded. "Good luck with the cruise ship business."

"Just the kind words are all the payment I need." Will replied. "I'm unfortunately short on them as of late."

"Well you're a very kind fellow." Peter said. "I'll hit you up if we need a ride out. Not that we would need to leave."

"I'll see if I can get around to it, but I wouldn't be surprised not to hear from you again. Maybe I'll stop by this new region in the future. Make it a tour destination or something." Will explained. The Captain pressed a button on the side of the ship, making a walkway extend out of the ship. The ship grinded to a halt right as the path landed on the dock, and the railway parted to allow our exit.

"Alright, here you are." Will said, holding out his hand. "Good luck!"

"Thanks." I replied, shaking his hand. My friends also took his hand, and after a short moment I got onto the ramp, heading down to the dock. The figure from before finally made it, slowing his run as he approached us. Once the four of us stepped off, the ship retracted its walkway, and I quickly turned around.

"Hey, what's your ship called, anyways?!" I yelled.

"The Mona!" Will shouted back. "Win for me!"

The cruise ship quickly turned on its engines, moving to full speed as it sped off into the distance. With our escort gone, the smell of seawater and the sound of Wingull circling the island filled my head. The sensation almost distracted me from the figure from before, breathing heavily from its run. It was a male, wearing a strangely black lab coat with a white underneath. A hard-hat sat on his head, a broken mining light on it. He had to be only a bit over twenty, with dark ebony skin and similarly colored hair.

"Welcome, welcome!" The man cheered. "I'm so glad you could make it! I'm Professor Toshley, but you can call me Tosh."

"It's a pleasure, Professor." Peter replied, attempting to shake his hand.

"What did I just say? Call me Tosh! You don't need to look up to me!" Tosh explained.

"I for one am very excited to be here!" Yamka added. "This is a very nice island you have."

"Oh, this? It's nothing, really." Tosh sighed, wiping a strand of sweat from his forehead. "You're going to love the actual region. In fact, I won't keep you waiting. Come, come! This way!"

Tosh turned, quickly walking over to a path between the trees, leading into the miniature forest. The four of us looked around at the wildlife as we followed him.

"So, why did you invite us?" Tabitha asked.

"I'll explain at a better time. For now, just know that you folks are one of the first people to ever come here. I've invited much more people to come live and compete here, too, and they should be coming in as the days progress." Tosh explained. "You get to have most of the place to yourselves at first."

"What kind of Pokemon live here?" I remarked.

"All kinds. You'd be surprised what species have come here, either through our action or their own. Don't worry, there's a ton of diversity. You won't be disappointed." Tosh added.

"So what do you research, being a professor?" Yamka asked.

"Well..." Tosh started. "Have you ever heard of Mega Evolution?"

"Yes, I can speak for all of us that we have." Peter answered. "I made sure everybody knows the basic stuff."

"I'm the guy who discovered it!" Tosh explained. "I'll tell you all about it later."

The man paused. Directly ahead of us was a metal-lined box, entrances on all sides. Tosh stepped inside, nodding. Yamka quickly ran over to him, taking his arm in excitement. Tabitha, Peter, and I followed suit, standing inside of the box. It was made out of pure iron, rusted in places. A small panel sat in the corner near Tosh, who used his spare arm to press it. The lift shook for a moment, and the sound of chains started growing. A violent shake occurred as something latched onto the bottom of the box, pulling it down. The roof of the box closed, and darkness quickly flooded into the elevator. Tosh's head light turned on, illuminating the box. All the walls were now slowly moving stone, passing by as we went deeper.

"What are we going down for?" Tabitha asked.

"Because, my friend. That's where the region is." Tosh answered.

"It's under the ocean?" Peter asked. "That seems rather suspicious."

"Trust me, you'll love it." Tosh continued. "And if I was trying to do something bad, wouldn't I have already done it? You guys don't appear to be very armed."

"I trust you! You seem really nice!" Yamka cheered.

"Thank you." Tosh replied. "Well, let me be the first to welcome you to my home."

The last of the stone passed by, and outside light returned to the elevator. Directly to my right the area opened, and my eyes widened in surprise. A huge cavern filled with shining gemstones was what we were greeted by, with many waterfalls hugging the sides. The grass-covered pasture below twisted and turned over the rocks and pools, with wildlife running their normal routines. Small beams of light came in through the waterfalls' entrances, landing on gems to fill the entire cavern with a white glow. A path was clearly visible, built a few meters above the ground with small staircases to go down. It split in numerous places, leading into caves I couldn't yet see, but that I really wanted to.

"Wow..." Peter gawked, admiring the scenery as I was.

"You were right." Yamka started. "This is amazing!"

"Like I was saying." Tosh responded, turning away from us. "Welcome to the Vibreal Region!"


	2. Chapter 2, The Brilliant Scientist

"Pardon my language but... damn." Tabitha gawked. "This is fucking cool. How'd you make all this?"

"This particular cave is natural, believe it or not." Tosh responded. "The system of caverns has existed for over thousands of years, preserved underneath the ocean. The Pokemon that live here likely traveled on the backs of larger sea animals and spread before any of the regions were ever conceived!"

"How would they be able to get down here?" I asked as the elevator reached its destination. Tosh stepped out onto the raised platform, signaling for us to follow him."

"The entrance from that island was admittedly larger in the past." Tosh explained. "It was definitely man-made, though. Some sort of catastrophic event happened that blew open a huge hole into this system. That event also introduced the gems lining the cavern walls."

"They're so pretty! Are they diamonds?" Yamka asked.

"No, they are not." Tosh replied. "They are deposits of Meganite. Special gems that are the 'key' in Mega Evolution."

A moment of silence followed the professor's attempt at humor. He looked back at us to make sure that he had our attention before turning back.

"Anyways." Tosh continued. "The island formed from that event, and numerous species from other regions travelled here. With the help of my scientists, we opened up three more pathways to connect some isolated areas that were either filled with native species or ones from other regions. Every other area, though, is completely natural."

My mind shifted away to a huge waterfall we were passing. The mist that it produced did not taste salty, however. It had to be completely clean.

"Is this a fresh water-fall?" I asked, pointing at the fall.

"Yes, indeed." Tosh cheerfully informed us. "There's a salt cave above us where the water is naturally purified, for the most part. It's still a bit salty."

"Hey, fresh water in the middle of the ocean's pretty cool, even if it's not perfect." Peter remarked. "So where are we, and where are we going?"

"Normally a place like this would be given a route name, but that's no fun." Tosh began. "This is Stride Passage. It's probably the most mild and calm cave of the system due to its connection to the entrance above. We're heading to the capital, where we have our base of operations. We have maps spread out everywhere so people don't get lost, but I'll show you it when we get there."

"How long of a walk is it?" Tabitha asked.

"Not much." Tosh responded. "But we have some time. I've been talking a bit, so how about you folks tell me about yourselves."

"Well, my name is Tabitha." The girl began. "I've always thought about being a trainer, but my family wasn't too keen on the idea. I loved to play around in the park when I was young, so exploring isn't anything new to me."

"I don't think this is that kind of ball game." Peter replied. "But the name's Peter. I'm pretty much in the same boat as the rest of these guys; we've been friends all throughout our later years of education. I for one am very thankful to be given this opportunity."

"So you all know the ropes then?" Tosh asked.

"Yep." Yamka replied.

"Oh thank goodness." Tosh sighed. "Tutorials are a pain for me, and I already have to explain so much. Thank you for being patient with me, my friends."

"No problem!" Yamka cheered. "I'm Yamka, by the way. I hope that my friends and I can have lots of fun here. Our lives aren't exciting enough."

"With you, maybe too much actually." I joked. "My name's Nathan. What I can say has already been said."

"Don't worry, this will most certainly be an exciting experience for the lot of you, I promise." Tosh continued. "We're coming up on the ridge. Take a good look."

The walkway deposited us on a raised wall of the cave, leaving behind the grassy area. Tosh finally stopped his walk at the edge of a cliff, near what appeared to be a cable car, looking down. After joining him, I was gifted with the view of the most amazing city I had ever seen. Countless houses lines the walls of the cave, with wooden walkways strewn about to connect them. Cable lines holding cars sat idle on some, positioned to make traversing the maze easier. The buildings' size, shape, and color varied intensely, with a few in particular sticking out. At the bottom of the cliff sat a huge lake, supplied water from the water flowing down on all sides. Some infrastructure sat on stilts over the lake, with more soaked platforms allowing easy movement between them.

"This is Aicam City, the biggest city of the region." Tosh explained, placing his hands on his hips in triumph. "It's able to house about three million people at the moment, and we can always expand."

"How many people live here right now?" Peter asked.

"About two hundred." Tosh sighed. "But as people keep coming, I'm sure we'll have a more lively region. Every great work of art must begin with one flick of the brush. Now, if you could please get on the lift, everyone."

I followed Tosh, with Peter behind me. Yamka was too busy admiring the view to notice Tabitha grab her arm to drag her in with us. A press of a button sent the lift to life, speeding us off towards a large platform on the cliff to our right.

"This lift moves between Stride Passage and the main square of the city. There are a few more cars there to get to other places in Aicam City or other areas." Tosh explained. "This lift is the strongest out of them all, being the main method of transport to and from the main exit. It can hold up to a hundred decently-weighted people and Pokemon."

A second car suddenly flew past us, heading back towards the cliff. Tosh grabbed onto his hat to prevent it from flying off.

"The dual car system makes operation more efficient." Tosh continued. "But as for the city, construction began over ten years ago. Massive amounts of power from both man and Pokemon were required to build everything to pristine condition. Water is purified from the bottom of the lake below the city to be used by residents. It helps to prevent flooding, too, if the water cannot flow out fast enough. If the flow is too slow, we can purify ocean water instead, and we have plenty of that. As for food, miniature farms line the waterfalls. They're completely automated, meaning that we just have to come and harvest the stuff when it's done. The routes we constructed ourselves are also used for food production."

"It sounds like you made the city to be very independent." Peter commented.

"Well, we need to be." Tosh replied. "We're not exactly near another region to get help from. We have to make our own electricity, which hydropower more than allows. To save power we only use indoor lights. Natural light from the salt caves above feigns a day-night cycle, so things shouldn't be that hard to get used to."

The cable car stopped, its doors opened, and Tosh continued to his destination. The large building directly opposite the line of cars with labels of destinations was where he entered. The doors slid open in anticipation for us, letting everyone inside. White walls made up most of the entrance, a desk occupied by a worker who probably wasn't doing their job, and a waiting area with a few plants and a newspaper taking up the rest.

"I'm back, Beth." Tosh said, waving. "We have some guests."

The woman immediately returned to reality, focusing on us. She too wore an ebony lab coat, but no headpiece. Her red hair was thrown back as she got up, revealing her slender form. I wasn't infatuated by her, but I wasn't one to shy away from admiring the female form.

"Hello, Toshley, everyone." Beth greeted us. "Welcome to the Pokemon Lab."

"Name pending." Tosh added.

"Yes, yes, sir." Beth sighed. "I assume you want to give them the tour?"

"No, they're already experienced enough from what they tell me. Let's just go back and tell them about the place." Tosh suggested.

"Right. This way, everyone." Beth requested, bringing us deeper into the lab. A few other scientists passed by, giving friendly waves that we returned to them. Everyone wore the same black coat, something I couldn't help but find strange. When I thought of scientists, a white coat came to mind. Whatever, I bet they have a good reason.

Beth stopped to turn to a door, pulling it out. Tosh walked inside, with us a short distance behind him. The man went to the opposite side of the room towards a table adorned with a computer and a few journals. Right behind the professor was a glass wall, and on the other side sat an array of different colored gems and stones at filled the room with a multi-colored glow. He grabbed his hat, placing it on his desk before turning back around with his hands in his pockets.

"Now." Tosh started. "I want to thank all of you once again for coming here. As a Pokemon Professor, I want to learn about the many different kinds of Pokemon found on the planet and unravel their secrets. It's what I love. I came across this mysterious land a decade ago when journeying between the Sinnoh and Kanto region. The stones I found here reshaped how Pokemon do combat, introducing Mega Evolution to the world. The money I made allowed me to construct an entire region from the ground up, one which I can call my own. And now that it's complete, my research may continue. With you."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"The stones found here do trigger Mega Evolution, yes. But the huge stones themselves are extremely unstable. They've done strange things to the wildlife, things you couldn't imagine. Things I want to learn more about, and what you can teach me. You see, I've already gotten a filled Pokedex, the device used to record information about every species found in the world. That's such a boring job. You, I want to give you a more interesting task."

"Ooh~! What is it?" Yamka asked.

"Let me explain. The way that Mega Evolution currently works is this: A Keystone made of the gems found in Stride Passage among other places interacts with a specific Mega Stone found in one of the other caves. This interaction gives massive power to the Pokemon, giving them a stronger form, a stronger mind. This is only temporary, however. The challenge I give you is to find a way to make your Pokemon have an increased state of power permanently."

"You weren't kidding, that is quite interesting." Tabitha commented. "So how would we do that?"

"Well, there's a very interesting tidbit about Mega Evolution. I didn't just stick two stones together to find out what happened. What do you think made the discovery?"

"Ancient writings?" Peter asked.

"No, but you're not going to guess it." Tosh replied. "The answer is actually sex, believe it or not."

None of us responded to his statement. As for me, I wasn't sure if he was joking or being serious.

"Yes, yes. It's weird." Tosh continued. "But hear me out on this one! The stones actually react to high amounts of emotion! Mega Evolution is, after all, impossible without a good bond. I just happened to be experimenting when it happened.

"S-some science you have there." Yamka stuttered nervously.

"Look." Tosh said calmly. "I know it's not the thing you were probably thinking of, but affection is the only lead we have to learning about Mega Evolution. I'm not asking you to walk out of this laboratory to get right to work, no. I want you to ease into it over time. Don't force it to happen, or else you'll end up regretting it."

"Is sex with Pokemon even legal?" Peter asked.

"My region, my rules." Tosh informed him. "And besides, I don't think it is. I mean, do I look hurt or insane to you? Wait, no. You should see my partner, that'll convince you."

Tosh pulled out a cyan Pokeball, opening it. A flash of blue light released an extremely large serpent. It was almost twice his size, with tan skin and bright red hair. The scales on its tail opened like a fan, and when I saw its eyes, I couldn't bring myself to look way.

"It's beautiful..." I swooned. Immediately I regained control of myself, planting a slap on my own face. Peter might as well have seen a ghost, observing my reaction.

"Thank you." Tosh replied. "This is a Milotic. It's my favorite and only Pokemon, and also my special someone. Her name is Infinity."

"He loves that girl to death." Beth added.

"S-so, how does one... have sex with a Pokemon?" Tabitha asked.

"It comes naturally." Tosh answered. "When you get to that point, you'll know what to do. If you don't you could always experiment on each other."

That comment shut us up even more. Now that he brought it up, Yamka and Tabitha definitely had their own perks to them, both in appearance and personality, but no. If it was going to happen it wouldn't be now.

"Too soon?" Tosh asked, returning his Pokemon to its ball. "I understand. Don't worry, you'll come around. And if you don't, at least you have an epic adventure to live. Speaking of which, I have gifts for all of you."

Tosh grabbed some things off of his desk before approaching us. He held out a device, but we were still startled by the turn of events.

"Hey!" Tosh shouted. "These are completed Pokedexes. They have information on every species, plus a few... additions if you need them."

I took the device from his hand, examining it. It was very basic, only the size of a card, but it would do. Everyone else took theres, and Tosh went back to his desk.

"Those also have holo-casters built in, and you're all registered to each other." Tosh continued. "Now, we get to the fun part."

Tosh returned to us, holding out four Pokeballs. Each one was perfectly identical, and completely featureless. What was inside was anyone's guess.

"I don't do starters like the rest of the professors, because they are found naturally here." Tosh explained. "Instead, I like to make things interesting. Go ahead, Yamka. You pick one."

"Me? Okay." Yamka responded. She stepped forwards, her eyes scanning the Pokeballs in Tosh's hands. She moved to grab the one on the right, but hesitated for a moment. Finally she reached a conclusion, picking the one second to the right. The woman backed off, looking at her prize.

"Do not it yet." Tosh asked. "Now for you Peter."

"I'll take this one." Peter stated, grabbing the far right one. He spun the ball on his finger, almost dropping it if he hadn't caught on and stopped.

"Now Tabitha."

Tabitha took the ball closest to the left before walking back in line. I stepped forward, attempting to take hold of the last one. Instead the professor jerked his hand away, placing the last ball into his pocket.

"No, Nathan." Tosh commented. "I have something special for you."

He reached into his coat this time, pulling out a cyan-colored ball that he placed in my palm. It had a few wave patterns on it, with the button shaped like a seashell.

"This is my gift to you." Tosh whispered. "I want you to promise me something."

"What?" I whispered back.

"When you open this, don't try to give it away." Tosh asked. "Never, never think that you can't love it. Everything deserves a chance, so don't judge a book by its cover."

"Why?"

"Can you promise me that?"

"...Yes. I promise."

"Good!" Tosh shouted. "You can all open them now. See what's inside!"

"We should take turns." Peter suggested. "Mind if I go first?"

"Go for it." Tabitha responded. Peter released his Pokemon, materializing it on the ground in a flash of red. What it created was a small rabbit, one ear tucked in while the other extended. It looked around the room before noticing Peter. It looked up at him, raising its arms towards his towering body. Peter reached down at grabbed it, letting the small creature scurry around to sit on his shoulder.

"A Buneary." Tosh said. "A normal type. What do you think?"

"I think it's rather sweet. I don't see why I shouldn't keep it." Peter said. "Is it a girl or a guy?"

"It's female." Tosh answered.

"I'll call her Blanche, then." Peter stated.

"Glad to hear it." Tosh cheered.

"Now it's my turn!" Yamka yelled. She threw the Pokeball up, bashing the ceiling before it released what was inside. It was around the same size as Peter's Buneary, except strangely cat-like. It had red and yellow skin, something like a protruding mustache, and a stubby tail. Yamka took hold of it, squeezing it like a teddy bear. I was surprised to find that the creature didn't mind its near strangling hug.

"I love it!" Yamka cheered.

"That would be a male Mienfoo." Tosh said. "A fighting type."

"I'll name him Santa!" Yamka stated.

"Santa?" Tabitha chuckled.

"Yeah!" Yamka answered. Tabitha sighed, shaking her head.

"You go ahead and open yours, Nathan. I'll go last this time." Tabitha recommended. I nodded, pressing the seashell button. A flash of blue light brought forth another small figure. But this one was not what I was expecting in the slightest. It was a purple fish, with a hollow fin above its head and grey fins everywhere else. There really wasn't anything else to say about it except that without water it started madly flopping around. It did sparkle every so often, but so dimly that it didn't even matter. I grabbed hold of it, but it still madly shook in protest.

"That would be a Feebas, and a shiny one at that." Tosh stated. "They're incredibly rare, I'll let you know."

"I think I saw you fish this up earlier." I said, having reminded myself of my first sighting of Tosh."

"That would be correct. Trust me, though, it's a really good catch." Tosh said. "It's a very hard Pokemon to train, but I know you can do it."

"You might want to think about giving him some gloves." Beth recommended.

"Ah yes!" Tosh shouted. He ran back to his desk, running through a draw before pulling out a pair of blue gloves. He ran back, handing them to me as I put away my Pokeball.

"These are gloves that Beth made." Tosh explained. "They secrete water to keep some Water Pokemon safe and refreshed. Some don't need it, but yours does. Just wear them and hold her, and you should be good to go."

I slipped them on, the rubber unpleasing to my skin. I lowered the flailing fish into my hands instead of my arms, and almost instantly it stopped. With it calmed down, I gently pressed the fish to my chest, feeling its weak heart beat against my own.

"What will you name her?" Tosh asked.

"I'm no good with nicknames, I'm afraid." I lied. I could very easily give this Pokemon a name, but all of them would probably get me thrown out of the building. I had to hold onto my word and just accept it, unfortunately. With all due luck I could get something a bit more impressive to stand a chance against my friends' Pokemon.

"Alright then." Tosh sighed. "You can always change your mind in the future, so no worries. I will tell you that your Feebas is more experienced than your friends' Pokemon, so it should be good for now. However, since it's a high level you will need to show it care for it to take your advice in battling, and it will level up slower. Consider getting another Pokemon to cover for it."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." I groaned.

"Now for me." Tabitha said, opening her ball. Another flash of red revealed a small quadrupede, blue and black with its own fur covering its eyes. It was somewhat intimidating, but that feeling was broken when it nudged its head against Tabitha's thigh.

"That would be Deino." Tosh informed her. "Dark slash Dragon type."

"Cool." Tabitha responded, petting the creature. "He's a guy, right?

"Yes Ma'am." Tosh replied.

"I'll call him Jane. Unlike you I'm good at names." Tabitha commented, smiling at me.

"To each their own." I responded.

"Now." Tosh began, stepping away from us. "This is a place unlike any other. You'll meet lots of nice people and Pokemon, and you can take this journey at your own pace. This world is mine to share with you, and I hope you enjoy it!"

"Thank you." Peter said. "But let me ask you something. What do you gain from all of this?"

"Me?" Tosh asked. "If I were to have a goal, it would have been completed. I have friends, family, and my guests. The fact that I was able to do this makes my heart feel warm. I didn't have to do something illegal to make this region, and yet it was almost effortless. I owe everyone their help in creating Vibreal. And I need your help to make it all worth it. Will you become great trainers, and maybe honor my request?"

"I can't speak for everyone, but I'm more than excited to be here." Tabitha replied. "And I promise I'll keep your words in mind."

"That's all I want." Tosh said. "I know it's a private matter, but please do tell me and my scientists. We have a lot to learn, and we need everything we can get. Don't worry, your secrets are safe with us. We're a bit experienced in that area ourselves, and we do our fair share of experimenting. It's definitely a fun activity, that much is true!"

"I'll think about it." Peter said.

"I-I'll do it if you guys wanna. But if you don't that's fine, I..." Yamka stuttered.

"Calm down, Yamka." Peter suggested. "Let's do one thing at a time."

"What about you, Nathan?" Tosh asked.

"I don't know. I think I'll just be friends with my fish for now." I groaned.

"Don't be that way. Remember what you promised me." Tosh replied. "But I want you guys to stay in Aicam City today. Admire the sights, get something to eat at one of the restaurants that are currently working, and have a nice rest. You four have your own square where your houses are; you'll find the keys and a few non-perishables inside."

"Thanks so much." Peter said.

"No problem. If you need me, I'll be greeting some other guests for the rest of the day. Just catch me going around."

"Alright. See you." Tabitha replied as Beth opened the door again. As we were stepping out, I stopped for a second.

"What's with the black lab coats, anyways?" I asked.

"Lab coats are supposed to be white so you can see if something splashed onto you, for safety reasons." Tosh replied. "That doesn't help much if we're dealing with white stuff!"

"What do yo… oh. Right."


	3. Chapter 3, Words of Advice

A sudden crash suddenly awoke me from my slumber. I didn't think anything could even attempt to disturb my rest; the bed I had been given was far too comfortable for me to consider that a possibility. Nevertheless I leapt out of it, turning on the light to the bedroom. Fortunately, I couldn't find anything wrong. The bedside tables, one with a simple alarm clock and the other with the Pokedex I had been given, remained untouched. The small trickle of water falling into the room wasn't the problem, but the sight of it made me eager for a sip.

The water was as fresh as one could imagine. Small bits of salt probably occupied it, but not even close enough to ruin the taste. Feeling refreshed, I took a stroll into the living room. The house wasn't big by any means but it did the job. A television which beyond all reason had a perfect signal flashed pictures of what was probably a drama show. The sound was muted as to not bug my friends of I, but the light from it fortunately let me see my way out. Maneuvering around the quartet of chairs and the kitchen island I neared the exit before I realized something.

I turned to look directly at the island. My Feebas was still there, lying on the gloves I had been given. It's eyes lazily rested on me, still active due to the light. I hesitated to leave, instead giving in. A press of a button on the remote resting on top of the device shut it off. With that taken out of the way, I left, shutting the wooden door behind me.

The square we had been given now sat in front of me. It rested beneath a main walkway, with a bit of extra layering dulling the sound of footsteps that would probably be common. Still, the houses of Tabitha to my right, Peter to my left, and Yamka directly across from me created a complete circle. In the middle sat a small fountain lined with benches, yet another way this place kept being amazing. With the near-nonexistent rays of the moon providing a small ability to see I managed to make something out. A leg just leaving view up the staircase. I had to follow it, weakening my footsteps as I headed towards the staircase between Peter and Yamka's houses.

After reaching the main walkway, I was able to make out a few people. There had to be only about four of us up at this hour, and only two of them had lights on them. I couldn't make any of them out in the darkness, until one of the people carrying a flashlight shined the figure without. It was Yamka! She looked back at the other person, but I was probably invisible unless someone else flashed me. The light moved back to the path, and everyone continued on their way, with me tailing my friend.

Yamka arrived at one of the cable cars, stepping inside and triggering it. The lift sped off into the distance, towards the main square. With her long gone I went over to the car, waiting a moment before the second car arrived. The sound of the car's wheels against the metal cable grew, and after a brief moment it arrived, completely empty. I stepped in, sending it on its journey as I took a look out the side. I could spot a few lights moving around the city, but other than that Aicam City was peaceful. Thinking about it more, I guess that some new residents where exploring, so when more people came a swamp of flashlights wouldn't be any issue.

My thoughts were put on pause as the lift reached its stop. All the other cars were in station, so she hadn't take those… the only place she could've gone was the lab. Picking up the pace I journeyed inside, finding Beth a bit more attentive at the main desk. She was rummaging through the clutter on her desk in search of something before she noticed me.

"Hello there, Nathan." Beth said, smiling. "Yamka just came in; she wanted to ask the professor a few questions."

"What kind of questions?" I asked, earning a shrug from the woman.

"Would you like me to show you to his office, or do you remember where it is?" Beth asked.

"I remember. Thank you for the offer." I replied. She went back to her work as I passed by her desk, heading into the familiar hallway. The lab was much less active at this hour, with not another soul in view. Coming to Tosh's door, I moved myself to enter…

"Like I said before, don't try to force it." Tosh's muffled voice said from behind the door. Instead of going inside, I pressed my ear up against it, listening in on what they were doing.

"What do you mean?" Yamka asked.

"Don't just get naked and expect things to happen. Maybe drop a few hints so they are more consenting." Tosh recommended.

"Like what?"

"Get touchy. Maybe hug him a lot, hold him under his legs on the occasion. Things that will edge him towards that point without forcing it. If he tries to start something, no matter when it its, you NEED to accept his offer. If you deny him on his first attempt he might not ever try again."

"Should I get him to use protection?"

"A condom? No, Pokemon aren't compatible with humans, and they can't get any kind of virus save for Pokerus, which doesn't transfer. I'd recommend using some birth control, though. If your friends get into the mix, you don't want one of them knocking you up."

"Do you have some?"

"Plenty extra, feel free to give some to your friend, too."

"Thanks. Say, how fun is sex, anyways?"

"That's a very odd question."

"Do you have a very odd answer?"

"I'm not a girl, so I'm afraid I can't say for sure. I can say, however, that little Santa'll have the time of his life if you do things right. I hope that holds true for the rest of them too."

"They aren't as upbeat as me. Sometimes I think they're a bit too serious, or maybe I'm too cheery..."

"Don't be so negative. Everyone has their individual traits, and differences don't stop you from being friends. And for goodness sake, don't just become friends with benefits. Love isn't restricted to one single person, you know. Warm hearts can carry each other through any journey, even this one."

"You're very wise, Tosh."

"I try to be. I'm not exactly the most respectable scientist, after all. Hopefully my requests and hopes for you guys can be paid back with the homes. Are they alright?"

"I love it. I've never lived on my own before, and it's such an amazing place. I have a window view of the lake and all the other houses, the Pokemon flying and swimming around. Santa likes it too, even the food that's in the pantry."

"I'm glad. I tried to invite the nicest folks to come here, trainer or not, and girls and guys like you make me happy."

"Speaking of happy, what's the deal with you and that Milo-whatever."

"You mean my Milotic?"

"Yep."

"If I could call her my wife I would. She's done a lot for me, but... I'd rather save that story for another time. Do you have any more questions, my dear?"

"A few. How come Nathan got such a... lame Pokemon?"

"Lame? I guess it is, but if he learns to like it for what it is, it'll be anything but."

"He doesn't seem rather excited about it."

"No, I'm not."

In spite of myself I opened the door, stepping inside. Yamka was sitting on a chair in front of Tosh's desk, its owner crossing his legs with his hands in a calculating pyramid.

"H-how long have you been here?" Yamka stuttered, not turning around.

"Awhile. I followed you out." I answered.

"Damn..." Yamka sighed. "You heard me fall on my face, didn't you?"

"That's what the noise was?" I asked. Yamka flung her chair around, her face red with embarrassment.

"I couldn't see where I was going!" Yamka yelled. "Don't blame me!"

"I didn't think you'd be talking about me behind my back the day we got here." I continued. "Don't you think that this thing maybe isn't exactly normal?"

"Well, he's right." Tosh answered. "Usually more people come to talk to me about this. I guess it's just an off-day."

"Please, don't get mad at me!" Yamka cried.

"I'm not mad at you." I said. "I'm mad at the professor for completely boning me on this."

"You're mad about the Feebas you got, are you not?" Tosh asked, standing up.

"You better believe it." I replied. Tosh took off his coat, setting it on the chair before walking in between Yamka and I.

"And why is that?" He calmly asked.

"Because while everybody else got a normal Pokemon I got one that I physically need to hold with gloves to prevent it from spazzing out on me. You had another ball with you and you put it away to give me the fish you caught not a couple hours earlier! You even forced me to promise that I wouldn't just throw it on the ground right then and there. Why?"

"Nathan." Tosh started. "Please, calm down. I gave you the strongest Pokemon out of any guest I've seen so far. You're unlike any of my other residents in this regard. You should feel honored, my friend! That Feebas is a gem that you should be proud of!"

"I feel cheated, not honored."

Tosh opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped. His hands fell into his pockets and his head dropped a decent bit. He slowly walked back to his desk, rummaging through his coat pockets until he pulled out a normal Pokeball. With it in his hand he shambled back to me, pausing.

"Fine." Tosh sighed. "I found an entire region, and I decide to let people come and experience what I've created. I gave them places to live, a journey to pursue, and at no cost to them whatsoever. I ask one thing in return and I get ridiculed for it. Perhaps I was wrong about you, Nathan. I guess you're not the man I thought you were."

Tosh held out the Pokeball, a few tears forming in his eyes.

"Go ahead, take this." Tosh ordered. "And give me back the damn Feebas. I'll give it to a half-decent trainer."

"Half-decent?" I asked, not taking the ball.

"Some people would kill me to know I gave such a rare Pokemon away." Tosh continued, "They are only found in the deepest depths, where life is almost impossible. The species is know for its resilience to natural conditions."

"You fished it off the beach." I explained.

"There are small pockets opening into the Nadray caves that are a couple of miles above us. Deposits of salt accumulated there after the creation of these caves, and almost nothing can live there. I didn't notice my line had fallen into them. What was even more surprising was that something actually found a way to survive in there."

"And what's so rare about it?" I asked.

"Feebas are rare because they are innately weak. They don't reproduce well, so their numbers are very, VERY slim. And that specific one is what we call a Shiny Pokemon. They're very rare variations of normal Pokemon that have a different coloration. Normal Feebas are brown, for instance, but yours is purple. Shinies also have their name from the shine that comes off their bodies."

"That is cool, I guess."

"It is. You see, when you said those nice words about my Milotic, I thought you might have a taste for aquatic types. What a coincidence that I had just caught the rarest of them all, right?" Tosh shook the ball in his hand. "Or am I wrong?"

"No." I answered, grabbing his wrist to pull it down. "If that Feebas will become something like that, I'll keep her."

"Ha-ha..." Tosh chuckled. "I think you'll find it to be even more beautiful. I promise."

"I'm taking your word, then." I stated. "I'll train her."

"Yay!" Yamka cheered. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Sorry for saying all those mean things, Tosh." I apologized.

"Don't." Tosh replied. "I should've explained more. But hey, consider this like a first try, eh? The next time I won't make this mistake. But anyways... now that the two of you are here, perhaps you have more requests of advice from me?"

"I do." Yamka spoke up. "Should we try to catch other Pokemon and have sex with them too?"

"Oh my goodness!" Tosh yelled, plating his hand on his forehead. "I forgot to give you guys extra Pokeballs!"

Tosh ran over to his desk, pulling out a bag. He placed it on his desk, returning to us.

"I'll hand you twenty when you leave." Tosh stated. "Give five to each of your friends, too."

"Okay." Yamka said.

"I have a question." I said.

"What would that be, my friend?" Tosh asked.

"How do I... have sex with a fish?"

"Unlike what I said about Yamka and her partner, you shouldn't wait for consent." Tosh recommended. "Feebas doesn't have a huge mental capacity, so it won't catch onto any hints. Just go for it whenever you feel is appropriate, if soon or later."

"That's a good idea. I think I'll get a bit more comfortable with it first." I said.

"That's all I want to hear!" Tosh cheered. "You guys can head out of town in the morning. Go back to Stride Passage in the morning, and head for Asila Town. Look for the signs, you can't miss it."

"Thank you." I responded. "What about you?"

"Well, I've got tons of people coming every day." Tosh explained. "More and more, in fact. I'll have to get my scientists to greet all the new residents soon!"

"Whatever works!" Yamka replied.

"I do believe there are camping supplies in your homes." Tosh started. "Take those with you, and set up wherever. All towns have campgrounds to rest at, and hotels if you don't want the full experience. You can stock up on food and other things at the Marts and Centers, and if anything comes up, you can call me on your Pokedex under the name Professor Toshley. Now go, have your journey. The world of Pokemon awaits, after all."


	4. Chapter 4, The Beginning And The End

This time, I awoke on my own. The window was positioned just so that I would've been treated to a huge beam of light directly to my face should I have slept a moment more. Without wasting any more time I pulled off my covers, leaving the bedroom. I would be coming back, so there wasn't a reason to take the five balls with me.

"Morning, girl!" I shouted at my Feebas, who still just sat there. Its blinking eyes that traced my movement around the room affirmed that it was still alive, and thank goodness for that. A trip to the pantry let me feed her before I went to the front door, pulling it open to find Peter attempting to knock on it. Instead, he punched me square in the face, but it was more like a tap with the force he gave.

"Oh, sorry!" Peter apologized, stepping back a bit.

"It's no problem." I responded. "Are we heading out?"

"Tabitha's helping Yamka get ready. You know how girls are about shopping." Peter joked.

"I do indeed." I replied, stepping out to close the door. Before I did I gave a wave to my Pokemon, who I swore nodded back at me. As much as I wanted to bring it along, I couldn't do much while holding the fish.

"How was your sleep?" Peter asked.

"Yamka and I went to go talk with the professor, but other than that it was great. Hopefully the road will be as kind." I responded.

"I have no doubts that it will. What did you guys talk about, anyways?"

"The request Tosh gave us."

"Oh." Peter's eyes widened. "I've been thinking about that myself, actually."

"Is that so?" I asked, walking towards the staircase with him in tow.

"Yeah." Peter continued. "I know that Buneary evolves into Lopunny, which is one of the more human-like Pokemon. I might try to... go for it sometime."

"Hey, I'll support you." I replied. "Maybe you can let me join you two sometime."

"Heh. I'd like to get to know her myself first." Peter answered. "It's definitely a possibility. Maybe I can join you and your Feebas too."

"How about no?" I asked.

"Didn't think so." Peter chuckled. "Before they get here, might I ask what you think about Tabitha and Yamka?"

"They're good friends."

"No. I meant... do you find them attractive?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so."

"I don't know about you, but..." Peter paused. "...I think that if we're going to delving into this stuff, I'd like to have my first time with the friends who came with me."

"A swell idea." I replied. "Don't worry, they probably feel the same way. I can say for sure if anyone wouldn't be it would be you. But I didn't think you'd be so eager."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"No, it's nothing to be sorry for!" I explained. "In fact, if you're feeling nervous about it, why don't we ask them when they come out? No couples, just everybody steps up their relationship to the next level"

"What? You really think that's the best idea?" Peter asked.

"The worst they can do is say no." I said.

"Fine. Leave it up to me." Peter replied. He put out his hand, letting me give it a firm shake.

"Whatcha guys shaking hands for?" Yamka asked, walking up to us with Tabitha beside her. Peter jumped a few feet away, blushing intensely. When I looked closer, it looked like Tabitha's expression matched his.

"There's something I'd like to ask you two." Peter said nervously.

"Same here." Tabitha started. She opened her mouth to speak, but then chose to punch Yamka's shoulder instead.

"I think we all know what's going to go down here." I explained nervously. "Can we agree that we're on the same page here?"

"Where you t-two talking about us?" Yamka stuttered.

"Yes, we were." Peter replied. "You?"

"Yeah..." Tabitha giggled. "Yamka brought it up, and I said I'd ask you so we could get it out of the way."

"The worst thing we could say is say no." I joked.

"But... would you mind?" Yamka asked. "I mean... I guess I've always thought you guys were cute."

"Same here." Tabitha added. "But I like you guys as friends, and I wouldn't want to offend you. But... you're okay with this?"

"Yes." I stated. "If we're going to be delving into having sex with Pokemon, I my first time should be done with people I've known for awhile."

"That was a lot easier than I thought." Yamka sighed. "Should we do it now?"

"I th-think we should wait." Peter recommended. "We're all as red as tomatoes, and we have to get ready. And besides, words are a lot easier than actions."

"I don't think so." Tabitha explained. "Men are just stupid sometimes."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Exhibit A!" Tabitha yelled. With quick hands she grabbed Yamka, throwing the girl against Peter. The flustered girl had no idea what was going on, but as soon as her curled-up arms impacted the man's chest, she knew what she needed to do. I wouldn't get any time to focus on what they were doing, though, as the other female flung her arms around my neck, giving me more than enough of a warning to what I needed to do myself. My lips opened to accept Tabitha, who matched them perfectly. Like the other girl she wasn't a huge fan of makeup, but her natural beauty was more than enough to make up for it. I could taste a bit of the spring water lingering on her skin...

The girl pulled away, her face even brighter than before. And it didn't take a mirror for me to know that mine was, too.

"I was going to say that exhibit B was that I was a better kisser than you, but... I think you ran the show there." Tabitha grinned.

"Don't be so modest." I replied. "You're good too."

"Is she now?" Peter asked. I turned to him, finding Yamka still latched onto his shoulder.

"Why don't you see for yourself? After all, we're all friends here." I suggested.

"Correct you are. Tabby, may I have the pleasure?" Peter requested.

"You know I hate it when you call me that..." Tabitha sighed. "But, fine. Come at me, big guy."

Tabitha opened her arms as Peter ran over to her, putting the man in her embrace. Now that I was able to watch, I could see that Peter was visibly shaking, so much so that Tabitha was too. Seeing two people that I had closely known for almost eight years, for some reason, made my cheeks flare even more, the patches of red connected by a wide smile.

"Let me be the one to say that I'm glad we can admit our feelings without being awkward about it over a few months." I commented. "And that everybody's on the same page."

"Why don't you get on my page~? " Yamka cooed, reminding me of her. Before she could do the same, I grabbed the girl's waist, planting a kiss on her lips. Yamka pushed much harder against me than Tabitha did, but her enthusiasm wasn't better or worse than Tabby's; It was unique. Deciding to exploit her excitement, I slipped my tongue through her lips, making her pull away from me instantly.

"H-hey!" Yamka stuttered. "I'm supposed to be the one getting sexy here!"

"It isn't a competition, Yamka." I sweetly responded.

"Hehe…" Yamka giggled. "If I knew you were going to be so eager I…"

I seized the opportunity, once again locking lips with the girl mid-sentence. This time, she did not retreat. Her tongue traded places with mine, the two mouth muscles rubbing their taste buds against each other. Our saliva churned around our mouths, warming off our burning cheeks…

Suddenly the two of us were torn away from each other by Peter, both of us laughing nervously.

"As much as I enjoy watching you two make out, I think we should get ready instead." Peter recommended.

"Well, I'll make sure you have a better taste later tonight." Yamka mustered. "That goes for the both of you."

"Challenge accepted." Peter replied.

"I swear, if our little adventure started like this, soon I'm going to have to suck that professor's dick to pay him back." Tabitha joked.

"Don't tell him that, or he'll hold you to that." I replied, sending everyone into laughter.

Satisfied with the outfit I had assembled, I stepped out of the dressing room, examining myself in the external mirror one last time. What looked back at me were two ruby eyes somewhat blocked by messy brown hair. The vibrant black overshirt I wore contrasted the boring red one, gradient between gray and ebony. Jean shorts extended down below my knees, making my assembly casual. I picked up the backpack I had also come across, heading to the front of the shop to find the others.

For a place so remote, the shop was very well stocked. Perhaps the merchandise was made here, but that wasn't what I wanted to think about right now. None of the others were here, meaning they were probably still browsing around. Instead of going back, I leaned up against a shelf, waiting for them. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it would serve its purpose. Out of boredom I checked my pockets, confirming the presence of my wallet and the cash I had brought with me to pay for everyone's stuff.

"Hey, Nathan!" Yamka cheered. "You look cool!"

I couldn't help but smile at her compliment, turning to look at her. That grin opened when I got a look at what she was wearing. She wore a bright sun hat, shading her pitch-black hair, blue eyes, and delicate skin. She wore an emerald top and skirt with similarly colored stockings from her hands and feet up to her upper arms and legs.

"You're rather green." I said. "And pretty."

"Thanks!" Yamka replied. "It's my favorite color. I was thinking that a hat might be unnecessary 'cause we're underground, but I think it's rather snazzy."

"Looks nice." I continued. "What kind of bag did you get?"

"Shoot!" Yamka yelled. "Give me a moment!"

She quickly turned around, running back into the shop. Peter happened to be arriving at that exact moment, instead being pushed aside. The man wore a ball cap to cover up his short brown hair and eyes, and a light polo under it. A satchel was thrown around his shoulder, resting at his pants.

"Hey, man." Peter said, walking over to me.

"You look rather fresh." I commented.

"Thanks. The same goes for you." He replied. "What's the deal with Yamka?"

"She forgot her bag." I explained. "She'll be back in a moment."

"She's rather green."

"Yes. Yes she is."

Peter reached into his bag, pulling out a Pokeball. He opened it to release Blanche, who quickly scrambled onto his shoulder. Seeing the rabbit reminded me that I needed to go back to my place to get my own Pokemon.

"Hey, Peter." I started. "I need to run back to my place to get Feebas and all our balls. Would you mind paying for the girls and waiting for me by the main station?"

"No problem at all, dude." Peter replied. I nodded, walking through the register and paying for my new attire. I headed out of the shop towards our square. With the sunlight now making its long journey to the cavern, I could see much more people roaming around. There weren't tons by any means, but it was still nice to see some other faces. Some of them even had their Pokemon with them, varying from little birds to more interesting forms.

I spent too much time looking around at everyone that I almost missed my stop. The little sign with four names on it passed me by as I stepped down the staircase. Once I arrived at the bottom, I took one last look around. The four wooden houses still looked as cozy as ever, and the natural light only helped that. The fountain continued to function, providing a soft ambiance to the area.

I quickly went inside the Peter and Yamka's houses, taking up their Pokeballs in my backpack. Their homes were remarkably similar, and once I entered Tabitha's, it became clear that no one had chosen to do anything special to them, including me. With only my own house to go, I left Tabitha's behind, shutting the door behind me.

But when I turned around, something caught my eye. Someone was sitting on the edge of the fountain, drooped over as if they were depressed. The actual structure had ceased to function, and no water was coming from it anymore.

"Hey." I greeted. The figure suddenly corrected its posture, standing up. It was completely black, and completely unrecognizable. Without a sound it slowly walked over in the direction of my house, walking straight through the door. With it gone, the fountain suddenly returned to life, but this wasn't the end of what the hell was going on. As I approached the last door, I couldn't help but feel a bit scared. And by a bit, I mean almost completely.

I couldn't have possibly turned the nob slower, peeking through the crack. With it, I could see the shadow, looking over the fish on the counter. It was looking up at the figure, who simply stood there staring back at it. I pushed the door open, letting it close itself as I silently approached them. The shadow did nothing, and instead just stood idle.

"What are you?" I nervously asked. "What are you doing in my house?"

Slowly it reacted, turning its head towards me. The edges of its body pulsed a decent bit, and its featureless face was both intimidating and terrifying.

"Nath-…" the creature gargled, its voice teeming with static and interference from the sound of things. "I-… you. Ta-… with yo-… an-... -ver forget-… Siren."

The shadow then turned its entire body to me. It was only a decent bit taller than I, but for the most part it was human.

"What?" I asked, confused. "Siren?"

"Do-... love her... die." The shadow gargled. It suddenly grabbed hold of my right arm, pulling my hand open with its own hand. I was too shocked to retaliate, instead watching as it let go of my upper arm to bring its hand to its neck, breaking off a small chunk of itself. It then placed that piece in my open palm, closing it. It then lowered its head, a single droplet of clear liquid formed on its face. It slid down the shadow's face until falling on my hand. Instantly the figure lost its form, disintegrating into thin air before me. The piece left in my hand also disintegrated, but instead of leaving completely as they did, something was left behind.

A chain constructed of glass was what it was, with two pendants on it. Each had a large hole where the chain travelled through, much larger than what was needed. But the pendants themselves where identical: They were like rings made out of sandstone, with intricate designs of waves on the sides. They had no gems, however. Instead, pockets of flowing water occupied the spaces where a gem would be found.

I let the chain fall over my fingers so I could examine the strange item better. I poked a finger into the water, confirming my suspicions: it was a liquid. Removing my touch from the small pool, however, did not make any of the substance stick with me. It simply returned to its normal shape, with small waves moving out from the center.

"What the hell is this thing...?" I asked myself, looking at it curiously. I cautiously set the item down on the counter, looking at my Feebas. She was perfectly fine, although now her eyes were focused on the strange object, with no signs of losing interest. Although, something hit me at that moment. I took up the necklace, setting it over my head. I didn't feel any mind-controlled ticks or pain, so it was just a normal item perhaps. Now Feebas couldn't remove its eyes from me. Not the chain, me. Curious.

I slipped my hands under the Pokemon, getting the gloves secured. Making sure not to drop her, I picked up Feebas, holding her against my stomach and the necklace. She didn't struggle, still locking eyes with me. Using a spare hand I put the last few balls into my backpack along with my Pokedex, threw it on, and headed out. With my house in tow, there was only one thing left on my mind: the shadow and what he had given me. He said something, but what? I could only remember a few lines. Siren, love her, and die.

"Siren, huh?" I muttered, looking down at the Feebas. "What a fine name."


	5. Chapter 5, The Legendary Explorer

Once I got close enough, I was able to spot my three friends conversing a few feet away from the station, most likely so that people who were trying to get on and off could do so. My car made it to the station a short time later, catching their attention.

"Welcome back, Nathan!" Tabitha yelled. "Thanks for getting our stuff!"

"No problem!" I shouted back, looking at Tabitha's clothing. The tan woman wore a fedora to cover her brown hair and blue eyes. Her shirt and jeans highlighted her curves rather nicely, especially her bust. If she was going for subtly, she had missed the mark by a couple miles. Then again, she always seemed to dress like that.

I quickly ran over to them as they got in the cable car that would take us to where we were going. Everyone seemed to have their Pokemon out, as Jane stood in a corner of the car with Santa riding on top of him. Blanche still sat on her master's shoulder, curiously looking at my own Pokemon.

"Hey, Nathan!" Yamka cheered. "We were just talking about you."

"Were you now?" I asked, pressing the button to send the car on its way.

"Yeah!" Yamka replied. "About how we think you're really nice for doing that for us! Did everything go well?"

"Yeah, it did." I lied. The day was already chaotic as it was, and I didn't need them to think I was crazy, too. Speaking of which, I had to come up with an excuse for the necklace; it was only a moment before they noticed Siren looking at it.

"Oh yes!" I shouted. "I came up with a name. I'll be calling my girl here Siren from now on."

"That's a cool name." Peter said.

"See?" Tabitha started. "Now that we're all together, everybody's happier. We don't need to be all nervous around each other because of this. It should be more lively, not less!"

"An excellent observation." I responded.

"Speaking of observations, I still need to do yours." Peter said, reaching into his satchel. He pulled out his Pokedex, aiming it at Siren. He continued to do so for a few moments before throwing on a frustrated expression.

"It's not working." Peter groaned. "An error of some kind."

"Oh, here." I replied. I grabbed hold of the chain around my neck, throwing the pendants to the side for a moment. They were probably the source of the problem, remembering the static in the shadow's voice...

 _Do-… Love Her... Die._

"It's working." Peter explained. "Thanks!"

"What's that?" Tabitha asked, eyeing the two pendants. I placed the necklace back in its old position, coming up with an excuse.

"It fell out of the gloves when I took them off. I didn't bring it to the store because I knew I was trying stuff on." I explained.

"It's really cool." Yamka replied. "I wish I had one..."

"I'd give you it, but Siren really likes it for some reason." I explained. The girl puffed her cheeks in frustration, earning a giggle from the other woman.

"She has good tastes." Tabitha joked. It was at that moment that the lift arrived at its destination, letting us all step out. Yamka ran over to the beginning of the walkway, taking in a huge breath of fresh air. The rest of us quickly followed in behind her, and together we headed off into Stride Passage.

The area was relatively clear, save for the slowly falling elevator filled with people. There had to be about twenty or so, with Tosh's familiar black labcoat giving him away. I would've ran over to tell him about Siren, and maybe about that shadow, but Peter decided that we were going to go off the wooden walkway into the grass instead. He started looking around the grass and water for some Pokemon, and the girls quickly went to do the same. Instead of joining them in their search, I took a seat beside one of the water pools, gently lowering Siren into it. She happily began swimming around, letting me take off the backpack. I opened it, making sure the others could get out their Pokeballs if they wanted to catch something. I pulled out my own decorated ball, fiddling with it.

Siren suddenly leapt out of the water, flying through the air to land in my arms. While I was surprised at first, I couldn't help but laugh at the Feebas' games.

"Hey! Why go and do that?" I asked her. Siren just looked up at me, wagging her tail like a canine...

"...and to your right you can see one of our residents playing with his Feebas." Tosh explained to his guests, getting my attention. I smiled back at him and his pose, waving kindly.

"Wait a second." Tosh said, stopping. His gaze fixated above my head, and I tilted my head in confusion.

"What?" I asked.

"This is quite the treat indeed." Tosh continued. "If you look just up there..." Tosh pointed above me. "...you can get a glimpse of the legendary explorer Halt Riggs, and his partner Elise, resting atop one of the massive keystones!"

Having to see what he was talking about, I turned around, examining the cliff face. Near the roof of the cave sat a man slumped up against a wall, sleeping next to a Pokemon, similarly shaped to him. It was blue and white, with a sparkling dress and flowing hair that twinkled like starlight.

"HEY!" Tosh shouted, immediately waking the sleeping man. In panic, he slipped off of the gem, tumbling towards the ground. He would have probably been seriously injured if not for the help of his now-conscious partner, who was probably behind the cyan glow that surrounded him to slow his fall to a stop. Once he had been gently set on the ground, he stood up, brushing off some stray strands of grass. He was wearing completely tan hiking suit with a hat that could only belong to an adventurer. A thick handlebar mustache sat between his unnaturally-tuned cheek bones.

"Gah..." Halt groaned, cracking his neck. "Maybe you could tone down the screaming? I could've gotten hurt you know."

"Don't listen to him, he's more than capable of surviving a little fall." His partner said, floating down beside him. I never knew humanoid Pokemon could speak, and not as fluently as she could at the least.

"Sorry, Halt." Tosh apologized. "I just wanted to show our guests to you."

"Oh, really?" Halt asked, examining the group. "Well, they're quite a fine bunch! I bet they'll have as much of a blast here as I do. Thanks for inviting me to stay here, by the way."

"I thought you wanted to live in Layleng City?" Tosh asked.

"I do, I'm just looking around a bit." Halt replied. "Getting to know the caverns as well as I can, learn the best views and such."

"That's super cool!" Yamka cheered, butting into the conversation. Halt quickly took the girl into account, tipping his hat at her.

"Thanks, miss." Halt responded. "But allow me to..."

Whatever the man was going to say got caught on the way out of his lips as he the soaked man holding a fish. He walked up to me, dropping to his knees to take a closer look at Siren. He then glanced at my bag, and the sight of the Pokeballs inside. He then turned back to me, smiling.

"...Introduce myself." Halt continued. "I'm Halt Riggs, world renowned explorer, adventurer, and Shiny hunter. I see you're quite the collector yourself."

"No, I'm just a starting trainer." I replied. "This is my Feebas, Siren."

"She's a beaut, she is." Halt responded. "But you're awfully lucky to have such a rare one, and a Feebas no less! I've never seen one before, to be completely honest with you."

"You're not going to take her, are you?" I asked, tightening my hold on Siren. Halt just chuckled in response.

"No, no!" He replied. "I'm not a collector. I'm a hunter! Elise and I search around for shinies so we can document it, not catch them. Speaking of which..."

Halt reached into his pocket, pulling out a similarly shaped Pokedex to my own. Elise suddenly teleported to my other side as Halt held out the device.

"Smile!" He asked. Instinctively I did so as the explorer took our picture. With that done, he stood up, looking back at the crowd.

"Glad to see all of you coming to Vibreal. Have a nice stay!" Halt said, bowing.

"May your paths be lit with success." Elise added, bowing herself.

"Alright, my friends." Tosh resumed. "Let us continue on our way. There's a ridge up ahead that you guys might want to take a look at."

With that said and done, Tosh led the group towards Aicam, leaving the rest of us behind. Tabitha and Peter resumed their search while Yamka walked up to Elise, examining the creature.

"So tell me." Halt said, looking at me. "What's your name?"

"I'm Nathan, and this is Siren." I said, holding her up for a moment. "My friends and I arrived yesterday, and we're headed to Asila Town."

"Asila, huh?" Halt asked, straightening his moustache. "Well, would you mind if the two of us tagged along with you?"

"I don't mind!" Yamka interrupted.

"Sure, I don't see why not." I said. Halt nodded, pulling me to my feet with him.

"Well, I'm sure you won't regret this." Halt replied. "And don't worry, I'll make it up to you. I know all the good Pokemon spots up in the Two-Tone forest, and I'll make sure you're not disappointed!"

"Thanks?" I responded. From what he had said, I guess there was a forest up ahead?

"No problem." Halt nodded. "Alright gang, LET'S MOVE OUT!"

"Wait!" Peter shouted. "I haven't found anything yet!"

"And you won't!" Halt answered. "They've probably been scared off by all the screaming and nonsense! You can always come back, but let's try to make it before the sun sets; it's a bit of a distance to Asila Town!"

With that said, Tabitha, Peter, Blanche, and Jane returned to us. Elise grabbed hold of my bag, shutting it and helpfully pulling it over my shoulder. Halt grabbed hold of the wooden walkway, pulling himself over the railing. The rest of us followed behind as the main trailed off towards one of the exits to the right of the elevator.

"So, how much do you folks know about Vibreal?" Halt asked, looking back at us.

"It's really awesome for a cave." Tabitha answered. "Is there anything else in the world like this?"

"Nope!" Halt cheered. "I've been all over the world. Kalos, Kanto, Hoenn. Nothing I've seen even comes close to this place. And I swear; there are so many cool places here! Especially Layleng City. I'll be heading back there after we get there, but you folks should go to Tamert City first. It's a swell place too, don't get me wrong. There's just so much cool shit here!"

"Have you seen the whole region yet?" Peter asked.

"I have not." Halt replied. "Only bits and pieces. It's only been a week, and we were the first ones invited!"

"What a coincidence that we were asked to do something we've been doing for years in the name of science." Elise added.

"Wait." Yamka started. "You mean you two have sex?!"

"Long before we ever came here." Halt replied. "Long days resting in caves really takes a beating on you, and when you've got a nice gal with you, sometimes things get a bit interesting. Is that a problem to you folks?"

"N-no, actually." Tabitha stuttered. "We're actually going to get into that soon."

"Are you?" Halt asked. "Does that mean I have a bunch of noobies on my hands? I'd love to show you the ropes, if you don't mind."

"We were actually going to have our first times with eachother first." Yamka said.

"You didn't need to tell him that!" Peter yelled.

"Oh, there's nothing to be ashamed of!" Halt continued. "We're all good friends, and in this region sex seems to be a theme with the scientists, which is fine by me!"

"It's not the most conventional topic, that much is true." Elise said. "But I guarantee that a Pokemon's touch is quite wonderful, At least, that's what Halt tells me."

"Why would I have a reason to lie?" Halt asked. "But if you guys want to be alone, I can camp out ahead of where you are. Don't worry, I won't eavesdrop on ya!"

"Uhh..." I stammered.

"Hold that thought." Elise interrupted. "Here we are."

The wooden path once again ended on rock, this time in front of a few trees. They were very tropical like the surface above, but the one thing that stood out about the forest was that the lower level was just as bright as where we were now, but everything just above what I could reach by putting my arm over my head was pitch black.

"Two-Tone forest earns its name." Halt explained. "The weird condition here lets some Pokemon thrive. The light rays that extend into this cave are very precise, making a very clear line between darkness and light. It's not the largest forest in the region by any means, but it's a good place for new trainers to head. I reckon we might find some in here. You guys know how to battle, right?"

"We do, but we haven't tried yet." I answered.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Halt replied. "And you folks seem to have quite powerful starting Pokemon with you, so I reckon that if you all stick to your guts and stay calm, we're gonna be rich!"


	6. Chapter 6, Fight and Fire

"This place gives me the creeps..." Yamka said. "It's like something's gonna jump down on top of my at any moment..."

"That happens a lot more than you think it does." Halt explained. "Don't worry, though! Nothing here will hurt you if it lands on you. As long as you aren't afraid of bugs, you have nothing to worry about."

"Well, I'm not." Yamka replied.

"I'm fine with them." Tabitha added.

"Good, then we shouldn't have any problems." Halt responded. "Let's go!"

Halt pointed into the trees, pushing a few branches aside to step through them. They almost fell back to bash me in the side, but luckily my elbow was there to meet it before Siren got hit. The rest of them fell in behind me, following Halt to wherever he was going.

After roughing through a few more branches, we ended up in a small clearing. Unlike the entrance, the breaks between the rays were completely random, the light reflecting off of a few white gems scattered throughout the cave. And right there, there were two girls standing opposite each other. From their stances, they had to be battling.

"Tackle him!" A trainer standing in one of the rays said, looking up at something I couldn't see.

"Bait him into the light, Riolu!" The other girl said. Almost instantly something leapt out into view. It was a feline, black and gold, ramming itself against the ground. Without any word from its trainer, the Riolu fell into view, slamming its opponent against the ground. Suddenly sparks launched off of the cat, making the Riolu spastically launch itself off of its opponent. Now free, the other Pokemon leapt back into the shadows.

"Riolu, get up!" Its trainer ordered, making the small creature get to its feet. It was still sparking, visibly breathing in pain.

"You know what to do, Shinx." The other woman said. The girl's Pokemon was still out of view, and the Riolu shambled around, looking for any indication of them.

"Hold out a Force Palm!" Halt shouted, getting the trainers' attention. Following his command, the Pokemon held out its hand, surrounding it in a bright yellow light just in time for the Shinx to come charging towards it, impacting its skull directly into the move. Instantly the Pokemon fell over, unconscious.

"Hey!" The Shinx's owner cried, returning its Pokemon to their ball. "I was going to win..."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Halt apologized. He walked up to the girl, reaching into his pocket for a few Pokedollars that he placed in the girl's hand. "I know it's not much, but it's all I have on me."

"You don't need to..." The Trainer started, before Halt put his finger to her lips.

"Take it. Sorry for... messin that up for ya." Halt continued. The girl nodded, taking the money before placing her hands in her pockets to leave through a stone path. Halt sighed, turning around to the other trainer.

"Thanks, mister." They said, returning the Shinx.

"Your Shinx is really independent." Halt explained. "But perhaps you should train it to only listen to you, and not me."

"Yeah, I know..." The girl replied. "Hey, would you like to battle me? I've got a new Pokemon I'd like to give a spin."

"No offense, but I'm a bit more experienced than you." Elise explained. "Maybe one of our friends here would like to."

"May I?" I asked, looking down at Siren. I wouldn't lie, I was curious to see what the fish could do, especially after all the compliments she had gotten.

"Okay." The girl said, reaching into her bag. After a moment she pulled out another Pokeball, tossing it on the ground. What came out was a green lump, with only a pair of eyes giving it any significance.

"A Metapod." Halt said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "One of the toughest Pokemon in the world. Elise, we might have to lend him a hand."

"Really?" I asked. Halt moved a bit closer to me.

"No, it's not even able to attack." Halt whispered. "You couldn't lose if you tried."

"Understood." I replied. "Now how should we fight?"

"Just... put her on the ground, I guess." Peter suggested.

"Oh? Okay." I sighed, placing the fish on the ground. She didn't flail around like I thought she would, instead just lying on one side of her body. Siren eyed her opponent, spinning around to face me, before returning to her normal location. Seeing her so eager warmed my heart.

"Okay, Siren." I asked. "Show me what you can do!"

Instantly the Feebas leapt high into the air, flying into the darkness. The Metapod simply sat there, looking around at all the people standing near it. Santa tilted his head in confusion of what exactly Siren was doing, a perfect representation of what everyone was probably feeling.

"Uhh..." Peter stammered, looking towards where Siren had gone.

"Wait for it." Halt urged, looking up. A moment of silence followed his advice. Then, Siren returned into view, flinging herself on top of Metapod. Upon impact she bounced off her opponent's body, launching herself back into her position. That was apparently all it took, because the Metapod just rolled over, its eyes closed.

"Welp." The trainer said, returning the Pokemon. "Not a good test run, that's for thanks from the earlier win, mister."

"Yeah, my bad." Halt muttered. The girl cupped her arms behind her head as she headed off where the other trainer had gone.

"Well done!" I cheered, grabbing hold of Siren. The touch of the gloves made her squirm for a moment.

"Good job, Nathan!" Yamka yelled.

"I didn't do anything." I replied. "It was all Siren."

"For the record, that wasn't the hardest fight to win." Peter explained.

"Shut it!" Halt yelled. "Every win matters, especially your first. I'd say that defines your career right there!"

"If it does, I think things will go quite nicely." I responded.

"Halt." Elise mustered. "I'd like to talk to you, Nathan, and Siren. Alone."

"Okay?" Halt replied in confusion.

"Mind if we head up ahead then?" Tabitha asked.

"Knock yourselves out." I returned. "I already had my battle, you go have yours."

"Yay!" Yamka cheered. "Let's go gettum, Santa!"

With that said and done, Peter reluctantly followed the girls out, probably to get into a fight. With them gone, Elise placed her hand around my neck, pulling on my chain to hold the pendants in her hand.

"What is this?" Elise asked.

"It's just a necklace." I replied. "Why?"

"It's... ominous." Elise started. "Just looking at it makes me flustered. I feel like I've seen it before somewhere. Where did you get it?"

"It was weird." I replied, deciding an excuse wasn't appropriate. "There was this... phantom that talked to me a few hours ago. It said a few things that I couldn't understand, and it gave me it before disappearing."

"You actually told the truth!" Elise cheered. "I thought you we're going to give me some bullshit excuse."

"What?"

"I'm a psychic type called Gardevoir. I can read minds."

"Then what was the point in asking me?"

"I prefer to be polite. And usually people don't tell the truth."

"Well, I do."

"And that's great."

"What did this 'phantom' say?" Halt asked, rubbing his moustache.

"They said Siren, Love her, and die, among a bunch of other things I couldn't understand." I said, my response only made the stroking increase, as if he knew something.

"And you just decided to wear this necklace?" Elise asked.

"Siren seems to like it." I answered. "I actually got her name from that incident. It just fit for some reason."

"Normally I'd say that was some kind of prank." Halt continued. "But I think it could be more than that. You see, Elise and I came across some kind of phantom ourselves, too."

"Really?" I asked.

"Not even a full day ago." Elise replied. "Halt and I were enjoying the view of Stride Passage last night, and we were going to head into Aicam City for a meal, but then... this shadowy human-shaped figure started walking around the walkways. I couldn't check its mind, psychically influence it, or anything. It just paced back and forth for hours until we finally fell asleep."

"I'm not sure if we have the same creature in mind, but just looking at it..." Halt stopped. He took his hat off, straightening its rim before putting it back on, staying silent.

"We've seen some pretty dangerous things in our lives, Halt and I." Elise explained. "But that was something to remember. I swear it looked at me, nodding its head a few times."

"Well, I only know one thing about this." I started. "This thing it gave me, it calms Siren and I. We didn't pay this much attention to each other yesterday, but now she acts like I've known her for years."

"Whatever the case." Halt stated. "If it ever starts to do something bad, take it off immediately. I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but you should be careful with that."

"Yeah." I responded, nodding.

"Good." Halt said. "We should get moving, the others aren't far ahead."

Halt and Elise started after my friends, with Siren and I in pursuit. I took a second to look at the necklace and my Pokemon. The Feebas was still looking up at me, with the pendants against her skin. Was this really the same Pokemon I had ridiculed not a day before? What that Phantom had said... could it refer to us? If I fell in love with her as I was likely going to... was I going to die? Her? Both of us?

I held that thought as we passed by a few more lines of trees, the exit of the forest in sight. The darkness seemed to be hiding away from the bright lights of wherever we were headed, making me curious as to what was up ahead.

"Hold it." Halt said, transitioning my attention to him. He was looking up towards the roof of the ceiling, at the branches above. There were numerous Pokemon resting in the trees, from spiders to more Metapods, but one in particular caught my eye. It was a green, white, and red caterpillar, sitting on nearly the highest branch. Halt pointed directly at it.

"That's a Larvesta!" He shouted. "I didn't think they lived in these caves."

"What a pleasant surprise." Elise said.

"Whatever the case, I think our champ here could use another Pokemon. Could you hand me a ball, please?" Halt asked.

"Okay, I guess." I replied, reaching into my bag to pull out a ball, handing it to the man. "Don't you need to weaken it first?"

"Nonsense!" Halt cheered. "Just watch the master at work!"

Halt gave the ball a firm press before hurling it up into the trees. With almost pinpoint accuracy it impacted the Larvesta, sealing it inside the ball as it feel back down. Halt took off his hat just in time for the ball to come falling down, catching it inside of the lid.

"See?" Halt said, smiling. "I told you it was eas-"

Suddenly the ball burst open, the pieces falling to the ground as the Larvesta was released. It immediately got up, walking in a circle around the hat before sitting back down, looking at Siren with its huge eyes.

"Not quite, champ." Elise joked, giggling. She tapped the Larvesta's forehead, making it fall unconscious.

"Damn it!" Halt yelled. "You have to admit that was pretty cool, though!"

"Yeah, I guess it was." I responded, taking out another ball. I tapped it on the Pokemon's head, locking it inside. A few vibrations followed, and a click confirmed the Larvesta's capture.

"Larvesta's an interesting one." Halt explained. "It's a half bug, half fire type. Very rare, gets really strong at a later evolution. It compliments your Feebas well, 'cause now you can take care of those pesky grass types. Although, Bounce is a good way of already doing that."

"Not that I'll need cover for her, but hey. It's nice." I said.

"I think someone like you should work up a big family." Elise recommended. "Normal trainer count is six. It's my challenge to you: get four more Pokemon before the journey's over."

"Sounds easy enough." I responded, I released Larvesta onto the ground. It was still asleep, so I grabbed hold of it, resting it on my elbow beside Siren, who smiled at the new guest. Larvesta's eyes slowly moved open, and as she did so, it let out a cute, feminine yawn. They focused on Sirens, then mine.

"Larvesta~!"The Pokemon cooed, rubbing its white fur collar against my arm. Her body felt warm, like a fireplace.

"I'll call you Cinder." I said. "Welcome to the crew."


	7. Chapter 7, Warm Feelings (MxF)

Asila Town was what one would picture when thinking about an underground town. Only a few houses, a river passing through the area, and only a few people moving around. It was much less like a town and more like a checkpoint.

"Hey, Nathan!" Peter shouted from up ahead. He was already unpacking his tent, setting it in an open area overlooking the town. Yamka and Tabitha were probably helping him, but perhaps they only started when our group left the forest. We joined the rest of them, but Halt and Elise started to walk away.

"Leaving already?" I asked.

"It's almost sundown. We'd best make some ground while we can still see the path." Halt explained.

"Don't you want to eat first?" Tabitha asked. "We did miss out on our meals, and I don't know about you guys but I'm dying here."

"That does sound like a swell idea." Elise added. "I'd be happy to."

"Eh, sure." Halt said. "It's not like we haven't been through dark places before."

The two explorers took a seat as we got ourselves ready. Peter decided that the two tents he had carried in his satchel could wait, instead gathering a few stray branches from the forest's entrance to make a small fire. He took out a large pan, filling it with water from the river. Once it had reached a boil he filled it with dried pasta, finally returning to his work. Tabitha and Yamka, meanwhile, decided that the best way to help out was to sit on the side playing with Santa and Jane.

Feeling bad for Peter's hard work, I set Siren in a small pool near the river, and Cinder a bit nearby. While Siren seemed rather content with her placement, Cinder quickly scurried over to the fire to catch Peter's attention.

"What's this little thing?" Peter asked.

"This is Cinder." I replied. "I caught her back in the forest."

"Caught what?!" Yamka yelled, running over to us. As soon as she caught sight of the Pokemon who curiously eyes the girl, she loudly squealed. "It's adorable!"

"Is she always like that?" Halt asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, and we love her for it." Peter explained. "But she's right, that's a pretty cool Pokemon. I wouldn't mind getting one of those.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that she's not for sale." I joked.

"Well, dinner will be done in a few minutes." Peter explained. "It's not a big meal anyways, I hope that's fine with everyone."

"That's fine with me." Tabitha said. "As long as we can have some breakfast tomorrow."

"Well, while I'm here." Halt began. "Let me give you guys some directions on where you should go."

"I'm listening." Peter said, stirring the contents of the pan.

"So, there are four different exits from Asila Town." Halt explained. "One was the path we just came from. Two more are over in that direction, to Tu Decent and the Waterfall Cave..." Halt pointed behind him, to the left of the forest. "...and one over there." Halt pointed to his left. "You'll want to go to Tu Decent first. It'll take you down a bit to Bosol City is. The first gym's there, so try to train yourself on the way down. The leader's a rock-type user, by the way."

"Then we shouldn't have too much trouble." I said, looking back at Siren. The Feebas poked its head out of the water to get a glimpse of the group talking.

"Never underestimate another trainer, my friend." Halt continued. "Anyways, after that you will need to take Ilanous Rise to get to Layleng City, where we'll be headed back to later tonight. Go down the Waterfall Cave, end up back here, and head on down the last path, Suies Cave."

"Sounds easy enough." Tabitha said. "Anything else we should know?"

"While Suies Path will take you to Rosmim City, the place it leads to, you can always backtrack through Two-Tone Forest and Stride Passage to get to Aicum." Elise suggested. "You can take the easy route to Rosmim from there."

"Where's the adventure in that?" Halt asked, patting his partner on the back.

"It was just a thought." Elise mumbled.

"Are there any good Pokemon spots up ahead?" Tabitha asked.

"Tons, if you look hard enough." Halt replied. "Just have a wide eye, and I bet you'll find something you fancy in no time. Speaking of which, you folks mentioned that you were going to delve into Pokephilia soon, yes?"

"What?" Peter asked, confused.

"That's the terminology for it." Halt answered. "That, I am a bit of an expert in. I'm glad that we don't have to be closeted about it here. We might have never known of a shared interest!"

"Is it illegal?" Tabitha asked.

"Well..." Halt paused. "...it's weird. People discriminate against it because it's not normal. And I've never checked rules or anything, but I think that some people out there hate it so much that they just assume it's illegal. Of course, that's because they have no bloody experience in it!"

"Why do people hate it so much?" Yamka asked. "I mean, I don't see why everybody's got to be fussing with each others lives. If you don't like that stuff just leave us to our own devices!"

"That sounds like a perfect world." Elise replied. "But as it turns out, humans can't do that. When they think about the word, they think of all the outlandish species that people would unthinkably rape and maim. Pokemon like me are not what they think of, or even any of yours for that matter. Ones that come to mind are things like Magnemite, Joltik, and the like."

"But it's fine for guys like you to have a relationship with Elise because you're partners?" I asked, making Elise giggle.

"No, both of us experiment on our travels." The Gardevoir replied. "But we hid that fact about us. Avoid controversy and ruining our names."

"I wish it didn't have to be that way." Halt sighed. "At least out of a coincidence I was invited here, where I don't have to hide it anymore."

Halt reached over, pecking Elise on the cheek. The sparkling blue girl lowered her head, softly smiling to herself.

"Alright guys." Peter said, taking the pot off the fire. "Anyone for some grub?"  
*****

"See you guys!" Halt yelled one last time, waving as he and Elise walked off into the distance.

"Thanks for your help!" Yamka shouted back. She continued to wave until the glittering Pokemon and her partner had disappeared down their path, and with the cave becoming darker and small lamps turning on, there wasn't much to see anyways. The tent was ready, and the area was made even better by the fact that we were completely alone. Besides from the few people in Asila Town, not another human was within miles of us.

"Man..." Peter groaned, stretching. "That much more than I've walked in a good while."

"Was the forest that big?" I asked. "I really didn't notice it."

"We spent almost four hours in there." Peter explained. "I guess without much happening you wouldn't really notice the time."

"Yeah, I guess not." I replied.

"I think today was fun." Tabitha said. "I got my first win in the forest fighting a Sentret. Jane doesn't disappoint."

Tabitha turned around, looking at the group of sleeping Pokemon, some of which were still on the edge of consciousness. With the fire long doused, Cinder huddled against Jane to warm herself. Blanche and Santa leaned up against a nearby rock, albeit on opposite sides of each other, and last but not least, Siren was still floating around in her little pond, somehow managing to sleep. After taking a moment to make sure that everyone was accounted for, Tabitha looked back with a smile on her face.

"But... shall we get to the real fun?" Tabitha asked.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, making Tabitha's smile turn to an angry grin. As soon as he noticed the cheery smile and red on Yamka's face, though, he knew.

"So..." Yamka started. "Should we go into the tent or just... do it here?"

"I think we shouldn't worry about any of them seeing us." Tabitha explained. "If they do, it'll be a good learning experience."

What followed was a moment of silence as everyone gave each other weird looks, myself included. Finally, Yamka pointed to herself, tilting her head. Peter nodded his head, making the girl smile even more. Yamka reached her hands over her shirt, dragging it over her head. Once she had set down the emerald top, her fingers attended to the pure white bra left behind. She quickly undid the tie behind it, letting it fall to the ground. Yamka didn't exactly have enormous breasts, but they were very large for the woman they belonged to.

"A-are they okay?" Yamka stuttered.

"They're perfect." Peter replied. "Let me join you."

Peter stood up, and with one loop of his thumb around the rim of his jeans loosened them just enough to send them down, and with one tug he pulled off his shirt, only his boxers remaining. Peter's abs were rather finely tuned, almost enough to make me jealous. Or maybe enough. Knowing that he needed to show the full package, Peter pulled down his last piece of clothing to reveal his dick. It was quite small, but that was probably only because it wasn't hard. Tabitha would do her best to fix that, though, as she unzipped her own jeans. To my surprise, she wasn't wearing any panties underneath, instead apparently going commando. Once her shirt was pulled off, this was revealed to be the case, as her breasts weren't supported either. The tan girl was much more gifted than her companion, having breasts a great deal larger than Yamka's. That wasn't to say any one girl was better though; both were amazing. I did have to admit, though: the pose Tabitha struck, one hand limp with the other on her hip, cocked just enough to brighten up all those delicious curves... my friend had never looked more sexy.

Feeling a bit left out, I unzipped my jeans, threw both of my shirts to the ground, and sent my boxers down to follow them. As it turned out, the performances from everyone else, maybe even Peter, had my member ready for action. Looking over at Peter's now hard dick made me notice I was bigger than him, but only by an inch or two. We both had to be around eight or nine inches long, though, more than enough to satisfy the women.

Seeing my excitement, Yamka slowly stepped over to me, locking eyes with me. She was undoubtedly nervous about what was going to happen, but behind that was still the cute, friendly excitement that you'd always find in her.

"Considering we wouldn't have even talked romance a few days ago..." I whispered to her. "I think you're pretty on board with this."

"I have the occasional fantasy..." Yamka sweetly replied. "...about a sweet guy taking me off my feet, saving me from some scary man... sometimes I get to play hero, but the results are always the same."

"I thought you were doing this because you wanted to do it with Santa after."

"That's one of the perks. I know I might fall in love with another guy. It could be a person or a Pokemon, I don't know. But I'll always remember my first, and even then..."

Yamka and I couldn't hold back any longer, pressing our bodies as we kissed. Instead of a frantic wrestle, or tongues just rested on each other, both of us focusing on the emotion instead of the feel. Her heart was racing, the beats carrying through her soft tits to connect with my own. Her fingers beat a steady rhythm on my back, while another reached around for my member. She slowly worked the tip of her finger under it, flicking up the shaft to make me moan into her mouth. Wanting to return the favor, my right hand reached for her crouch, manuvering under her skirt and between her panties, reaching the prize I desired. Once they were there, my fingers pulled open her vagina before closing it again, puffing up her labia to a delectable size. A hand suddenly took hold of my dick, bringing it into contact with Yamka's pussy. Before it could, Yamka broke the kiss, giggling.

"...You'll always hold a special place in my heart, Nathan." Yamka finished.

"Some guys won't ever get as lucky as I am to have you say that, Yamka." I replied, kissing her again for a brief moment. When I broke, I took hold of the girl's hips, helping her onto the rocky ground. She pushed her skirt and panties off, leaving only her emerald-colored stockings on, which were allowed to stay. Her long hair spread out across the ground, and her arms wrapped around my neck as I got into position.

"Please have fun." Yamka asked. "If you want, I'll always move into something better for you..."

"Yamka, you're my little flower, and I'm going to make sure nothing I do ruins that beauty of yours." I whispered. I pushed myself forward, digging my length into her. Yamka squealed at the action, laughing a bit after. Since she didn't seem to be in any sort of distress, I continued to push in further until I finally was met with interference. I knew enough about biology to know what it was. And to get past it, there was only one thing that I could do: push into it with force. I only made a bit of progress with it, but the job was done. Her hymen had been cut down, and the girl's laughter had been suddenly cut short as a small bit of blood leaked out.

"Y-yamka!" I stuttered, panicking. "Are you okay?"

"You did it..." Yamka whispered, her smile returning. "Keep going, my prince..."

I matched her expression, continuing my job. I pushed in deeper and deeper, moaning all the while. When I finally could go no further, I reversed, pulling my length out of her. Once I had made it all the way out, I reinserted myself. A rhythmic thrusting followed, both of our bodies sweating and shaking with every motion I made. The way that her walls gripped onto me, the moistness letting me slip my way through with ease, it all felt perfect. Too perfect. I couldn't help myself. Just as she had did, I started to softly chuckle. Noticing my enjoyment, Yamka resumed her laughing as well, the both of us sounding like gleeful idiots.

"Hehe!" Yamka laughed, pressing her hand in between her out chests. "Stop for a moment, please!"

I followed her instructions in a rather devilish way, hilting myself as quickly as I could, making Yamka scream in delight. With the pause she needed, the girl raised her legs, wrapping them around my back like her arms were.

"Okay!" Yamka cheered. "Keep going!"

"You don't have to tell me twice." I replied, resuming my work. With her legs in the new position, Yamka was able to put her own force into our lovemaking, even lifting herself a small distance off the ground to get some more of me. Her breasts were everywhere, squishing against me one second, and flopping to the side the next. Our laughing continued, with me sounding more girly by the moment. And every moment that I was still lost in those eyes, every time I pushed into her, I still couldn't believe that it was Yamka who I was doing this to. But it WAS Yamka, and at this moment, I knew one thing for sure: for someone so special, this wasn't going to cut it.

Grabbing hold of the woman's plump behind, I used the grip she had on my shoulders to lift her up, holding her as I stood up. After coming to terms with the new position, Yamka once again decided to lock lips, this time delving into the tongue work. She playfully pushed and batted around my muscle with hers, sharing our saliva to the point where it started leaking from our united mouths. My thrusting continued all the while, now coupled with me raising and lowering my partner with every thrust, spreading her cheeks wide to allow myself an even deeper entry. Only a loud howl from Yamka could break the kiss again

"Nathan!" Yamka yelled, throwing her head back.

"Yamka!" I screamed back.

"Nathan!"

"Yamka, I'm going to...!"

"I'm safe! Give it to me, Nathan~!"

Without another word, I pushed into her one last time, feeling the heat rush up my shaft, with small bulges traveling the length to shoot the strings of cum into my lover.

"NATHAN!"

"YAMKA!"

We shouted the other's name one last time as my load shot its way into her womb, seeping down her walls to drip out of what wasn't tightly sealed by our connection. Yamka released her feet so she could stand on their tips, bringing her arms back to hold mine. The two of us awkwardly walked over to the tent, laying down with me still buried inside of her, and the other two next to us.

"You two are really loud." Peter commented, both of us too focused to look at each other.

"It was wonderful." I replied, pecking my blushing partner again.

"I can't wait to have a turn with you tomorrow..." Tabitha cooed, her voice exhausted.

"You can count on it." Yamka replied. "I love you guys."

"Same." I replied. "What a good way to start off our journey."

"Now I really want to give Jane a shot..." Tabitha giggled.

"Let's enjoy where we are now, please..." Peter urged.

"I never said I wasn't" Tabitha responded.

"Hehehe..." I chuckled. "Goodnight, everyone."


	8. Chapter 8, An Encounter

When consciousness returned to me, I was admittedly a bit dumbfounded for a second. When my eyes opened, they were met by those of Yamka, who I had almost forgot spent the entire duration of the night locked in my arms, her breasts against my chest, and my shaft still lodged inside her. Noticing that I was awake, the woman giggled, her breath warming my cheeks, and the kiss that followed carried the heat all the way to my heart. And my dick.

"You two might as well have dated for years." Peter joked, making the two of us break away from each other.

"Don't worry~" Yamka cooed. "There's plenty to go around."

"I know, and I wouldn't mind if you two didn't leave each other's sight for the entire day." Peter explained. "But we get to have a moment tonight, right?"

"That's right!" Yamka cheered, standing up. My member quietly flopped out of her as she leapt to her feet, instantly making me regret not relishing the moment a bit more. With no more reason to be lying there, I also rose to join the rest of my naked friends.

"And I'll have you, Tabitha." I stated.

"You will." Tabitha replied. "But as for now, I'll stick with Peter. He's got such a way with words..."

"You can hear them all you want, on the road." Peter said, heading out of the tent. The rest of us followed, and within a few moments we were clothed and ready for action. Our Pokemon quickly took notice of us and our dressing, most of them running to our sides, or wiggling in Cinder's case. Taking up my gloves, I ran over to the pool to grab Siren, who leapt out of the pool before I could take hold of her. If I didn't expect it, I might not have caught her in time.

"You're silly, you know that?" I said, petting the fish. She quicky wagged her tail, communicating her excitement rather well. Her cheery demeanor reminded me that what I did last night I wanted to do with her. A bit to satisfy my curiosity, another because she had warmed up to me extremely quickly, and yet another for Tosh's request. After all, he did indirectly end up giving me quite a swell time last night.

With that food for thought, we quickly packed up our things and continued on our way. Cinder decided to take a rest on my shoulder this time, while I gladly held onto Siren. In the daytime, the city was no more active than it was before. The bright red building, however, would be our goal for the moment.

I had been in a few Pokemon Centers before, but this one was something else. The shop on the side was almost a full-fledged store on its own, with things you wouldn't need Pokemon to use. There was a notice board, with a couple of posters explaining things I couldn't quite see.

"Does anyone need to buy some potions?" Tabitha asked, looking at the contents of the shop counter as the man behind it curiously observing us.

"Can I help you, ladies and gentlemen?" He asked, catching Yamka's attention.

"No, we're just browsing!" Yamka replied.

"Looking is always free." The worker said, looking over his merchandise. The girls continued to look around while Peter and I stood a good distance behind them.

"Do we even need anything here?" Peter asked.

"No clue." I explained. "Do you want anything?"

"I might get one of those TMs." Peter said. "I hear Return is a good move. It gets more powerful depending on how much the user likes its owner, and since I'll be getting a bit frisky with Blanche, maybe I can get even more out of it."

"Exploiting sex with your Pokemon before you even do it, huh?" I joked.

"Hey, not exploiting, exploring."

"If you say so."

Peter walked up to the girls, placing his arms over their shoulders as he started speaking with the cashier. Trying my hardest not to get jealous, I turned away from them to refocus on the notice board opposite the counter. Numerous posters, ads, and notices covered each other, but a few stuck out:

 _Tune in to the World Pokemon Championships!_

 _Rare Pokemon Horde passing through Dragoon Heights..._

 _Mysterious shadow seen prowling near Teta City..._

 _New shipment arriving-_

Wait a second. The third one!

 _Residents of Teta City have reported seeing a mysterious black figure near the entrance to the Baretta Caves. While the figure has not proven to be dangerous, residents are urged to avoid contact it to avoid possible damage to person._

"You see it, don't you?"

The sudden voice made me leap back a bit. It had come from the woman who had suddenly appeared beside me. She wore a brown cloak on her left shoulder, adorned with a dark green shoulder guard. Her hair probably hadn't been cut since the day of her birth, but it's odd emerald hue with oak highlights stuck out to me. Almost as much as the fact that the cloak she wore, which only covered a small portion of her left side, was all the young woman was wearing.

"Uhh... pardon?" I stuttered, unable to resist admiring her slender curves and moderately sized breasts.

"You must be new here." The woman suggested.

"What would make you think that?"

"Usually people compliment me before gawking."

"Sorry. Yes, my friends and I came in yesterday. Who might you be?"

The woman pushed her cloak aside, raising her hand as she spoke to reveal her full, luscious body.

"My name is Fulla." The woman explained. "I am the gym leader of Lasanko City, the place I call my home. I prefer to be at home with nature, including the form given to me by it. I personally don't see why others don't as well. Especially down here, where you don't have to worry about weather."

"I guess..." I replied.

"If you do, why not get rid of those silly things?" Fulla asked, pointing to my shirt.

"I just got them, and if you don't mind, I'll keep them on me for now." I explained, blushing.

"Perhaps you will understand some day." Fulla sighed. "But as I was saying. This notification, it worries you, does it not?"

"What would make you think that?" I asked.

"I can sense it." Fulla explained. "Your breathing is steadily increasing the more you look at it. Your expression hides horror and worry. You have come across this phantom too, haven't you?"

"Yes... I have." I said. "What about you?"

Fulla paused for a moment. She looked at me, a frown on her face.

"I... have not." The woman replied, turning back to the notice board. "But it still intrigues me. I passed through Teta City on my way here, but I did not catch sight of it."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I am on my way to Layleng City to talk to the explorer Halt Riggs." Fulla stated. "I need his help with something."

"Out of a coincidence, I was with him last night." I said. "He went back to Layleng at that time."

"Oh, really?" Fulla asked. "What a shame. I knew I shouldn't have taken him up on that offer, I could've gotten here in time..."

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Okay then?"

"Hey, might I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"The Feebas you have there. What is its name?"

"Siren, why?"

Fulla reached her hand out, dragging her fingers over the fish's scales. Siren squirmed at the girl's touch, but she did not resist. Cinder, meanwhile, just eyed the interaction from behind my neck.

"You must have spent a long time getting that Pokemon to be so friendly." Fulla said.

"I've only had her for a couple of days, but she's warmed up very quickly to me." I informed her. My response made the girl tilt her head in confusion, her eyebrow raising.

"Truly?" Fulla asked. "You two are so connected, you must have spent years together. You honestly only received this Pokemon a few days ago?"

"What reason would I have to lie?" I asked.

"So it is true." Fulla stated. "Then you are truly one of the greatest trainers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you keep up that pace, I fear I will stand no chance against you."

"Wait." I ordered, collecting the information I had been told. "What's this about a connection between Siren and I?"

"I do not know, to be honest with you." Fulla explained. "But I DO know, somehow. You two are a perfect combination, and I can see great things coming from the two of you. I guess I will have to look out for something more than just this shadow."

"If I see it again..." I started, before Fulla placed a finger over my lips.

"Do not burden yourself with such a creature you do not understand." Fulla asked. "Whatever it is, and whatever it has done to you, probably don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Since you're new, you should be enjoying the adventure, not worrying!"

"I am very much enjoying myself." I corrected her. "It's just in the back of my mind."

"Usually I don't offer this kind of thing, but perhaps I can..."

Fulla pushed back her cloak, moving it to be more like a cape. With it behind her, the girl grabbed hold of her breasts, giving them a small squeeze. She had to be younger than Yamka and Tabitha, but she was definitely an adult... you couldn't find things that big on someone underage.

"...ease the troubles in that clouded mind of yours?" Fulla asked.

"I-I would, but I seem to have a line of candidates at the moment..." I stuttered. "That's not to say no! Maybe at a better time, just not for now."

Fulla sighed, moving her cloak back over her shoulder. She corrected the hair that had been folded from its movement, turning away from me.

"I will hold you to that promise..." Fulla stopped.

"Nathan." I informed her.

"Nathan." Fulla finished. "It was good to have a talk with one of the new trainers here, I must say. Good luck with your journey."

"Thank you." I replied.

"And tell Michael I said hello, please."

Fulla walked away, leaving the Pokemon Center to continue on her journey. The gym leader confused me; when I thought of someone in that position, an almost-fully-naked girl with green and brown hair didn't come to mind. But with her gone, I couldn't help but look back at the notice. Taking Siren in one arm, I grabbed hold of the pendant around my neck, which had stuck to me even during my episode with Yamka, holding it up to the notice. Almost on cue, my mind recreated that dark, featureless face, oozing and flaming with things I couldn't hope to see.

Halt said he saw the phantom before me... perhaps he asked Fulla about it, and she was going to him for information? Maybe. Was there something they knew, and they weren't telling me? Maybe. Was I any closer to figuring out what all this is about? ...No.

"Nathan?" Yamka asked, walking up to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Who was that?" She curiously asked.

"A very strange woman. A very strange, very naked, and very sexy woman."


	9. Chapter 9, Sparring

Tu Decent. Where to begin?

It wasn't a small cavern by any way of the word. An enormous plain stretched into the distance, lit by one lone waterfall flanked with artificial mirrors to illuminate the area. This didn't appear to be completely successful , though, as the far side of the plains was cloaked in darkness save for a few dim lights here and there. Aside from that, the route was much less interesting than Stride Passage or Two-Tone Forest. Not that it was bad, though; a gentler area was something I could get behind.

"So, we're headed over there, right?" Peter asked, pointing at the shadows.

"That would appear to be the case." I replied. "I mean, if we tried, we could make it there in no time at all."

"I want to go catch another Pokemon first!" Yamka cheered. Her desire reminded me of my pack's contents, so I reached around to open it, offering the bag to the rest of them.

"If any of you need some equipment, here you are." I offered. Yamka took hold of a couple balls, while Peter and Tabitha each took one for themselves.

"Tabby, would you mind joining me in a little exploration?" Peter asked, taking her hand.

"Please don't..." Tabitha sighed. "Yeah, I'll go with you."

"I'll join you, then!" Yamka cheered, latching onto me. Cinder crawled across my arm to leap onto Yamka, who apparently didn't mind her new guest.

"Sure thing." I responded.

"Since we've already had breakfast, how about we meet up over by where the route gets darker to eat dinner in the city?" Peter suggested.

"How about a bit before?" Yamka said. "We could get a shot at the gym leader first."

"Shouldn't we prepare a bit more?" I asked.

"That's what we're here for, silly!" Yamka cheered.

"Sounds good to me." Tabitha replied. "I guess we'll catch you guys around."

"Yup." I replied, sending the two pairs off their separate ways. If I was going to train Siren to be a better fighter, I needed to get her in the element she preferred: the only pool of water in sight. Yamka didn't seem to mind where I was going, instead, she observed the Larvesta on her shoulder, occasionally checking on Santa to make sure he was okay.

"So, that gym leader." Yamka started. "What was her deal?"

"She was just passing through." I replied. "We were looking at a notice, and we started to talk about it."

"Does talking about it involve being completely nude and squeezing your breasts?"

"That came after the fact. The notice was about this... phantom wandering around one of the cities."

"A phantom? What do you mean?"

"A black, featureless figure. Human-shaped, tall and terrifying."

"What is it doing?"

"I have no clue. Something that's not my concern, she said."

"That's oddly suspicious."

"It is, but let's not bother ourselves with that right now."

We continued to idly converse until finally making it to the pond. I quickly let Siren down into the pool, checking the surrounding area. There were a few creatures here and there going about doing whatever they felt like doing. One particular Pokemon that I was able to make out was a Buneary, exactly like the one Peter owned. It was nibbling at some grass, oblivious to the two humans standing nearby.

I grabbed Cinder off of Yamka's shoulder, fighting against the Pokemon's attempt to resist my hold, but the heat of my palms persuaded her to change her mind, letting me place her on the grass. She lazily looked around, crawling over to the pool to look at Siren.

"Alright, Cinder." I asked. The Larvesta didn't take acknowledgement to her name, so I had to reach down to tap her on the head. "See that Pokemon over there? How about we have a nice battle with it?"

Cinder cocked her head, looking over at the Buneary. Almost immediately, the Larvesta opened its mouth to launch a flurry of tiny fireballs. While some missed their mark of fizzled before reaching it, the ones that did hit the Pokemon blasted it away.

"You're supposed to wait until I give you commands..." I sighed. Cinder turned around, her eyes wide with sadness. That would have to wait, though, because her opponent wasn't too happy about getting roasted. The rabbit ran out of the grass, charging at Cinder's turned back.

"Turn around and use ember again!" I yelled. Cinder flung herself around to execute the attack just in time to prevent the Buneary's charge. This time, it hobbled over, still conscious but heavily injured. I would have taken the moment to congratulate the quick and easy fight if not for the fact that Cinder had ignited the grass!

"Oh no!" Yamka yelled, backing away from the small blaze.

"Siren, can you take care of this?!" I asked. The Feebas leapt out of the water, flinging the surrounding liquid onto the fire. It wasn't much, but it was enough to douse the damage before it got too bad. Cinder quickly retreated into the burnt grass, curling herself up while her gaze remained locked to mine. I got up to her, kneeling down.

"Hey, you did good." I responded, making the Pokemon's expression brighten. "You made a bit of collateral damage, that's all."

A loud splash echoed through the area as Siren leapt back into the water. I quickly looked over to her, and thankfully she appeared to be fine.

"Thank you very much, Siren!" I shouted, getting the Feebas to nod happily. With her and Cinder attended to, I moved to check on the Buneary from the quick skirmish. It was on the brink of defeat, but bullying it at this point wasn't in the heart of any of us. There would be more Pokemon around that we could train off of without being too harsh. This one, however, wouldn't end up getting away as a Pokeball was thrown at it, sealing the creature and clicking with zero resistance. Yamka approached the catch, picking up the ball.

"What?" The girl asked. "It's a cute! Now Peter and I match!"

"For better or for worse." I joked, smiling.

"Whatever..." Yamka sighed. "Hey, Santa. We need to train some more, would you care to join me?"

Her Pokemon quickly acknowledged his master, and the two walked off to go find a worthy opponent. She didn't stray too far, and I could always make her out and comment on a certain move or technique she was using, and she didn't stray from using the same tactics on me.

While using the pack of normal Pokemon ranging from Zigzagoon to Flechling, Cinder more than proved she was competent with battling. While she had toned down on the fire attacks to not cause another incident, her play with other moves was still excellent. She had a plethora of projectile-based moves, going for special moves over physical ones. The Larvesta not only had a good degree of punch behind her attacks, weakening the wild species to the point where they didn't wish to fight, she also knew how to control her blows enough to never quite knock one out. And she was learning quickly, getting better with her aim, speed, and durability in the occasion where something did actually hit her. Although I didn't have any potions to quicken the healing, Cinder was quick to recover from every hit with a small break in between fights. She was definitely pulling her weight, and the fighting was only benefiting her skill.

Siren, on the other hand, impressed me almost a bit more than Cinder. The Feebas did not have any projectile attacks at all, but her ability to tackle and bounce onto her opponents for crushing blows proved she wasn't to be messed with. Her battles did take a bit longer than Cinder's, but not by much. Siren would leap out of the pool at my command, attack her opponent until they were defeated, and then return to await her next move. While the flying types did give her a bit of trouble, avoiding her attempts to hit them, she didn't surrender easily to them. Every time she won, her movements got faster, more accurate, and generally more clean. You wouldn't think that she would be as good as she was, but I wasn't complaining.

Santa wasn't disappointing either. His fighting style of rapid punches and kicks made fending off the normal types (Who were, of course, weak to his attacks) only a chore. The flying types proved to be a minor nuisance for him, but quickly the Mienfoo adopted the tactic of throwing loose rocks at the Flechlings to ground them. Yamka's play in general was a bit abstract, as she often asked Santa to do actions instead of pointing out a particular move. This ended up with Santa taking a few hits here and there, but he shrugged off every blow like a champ. The Buneary she had just captured did not see action, most likely due to its injured condition.

"Hey Yamka!" I shouted, letting Cinder take care of the Poochyena for a second.

"What?" Yamka asked. Thankfully she was in between matches, so I didn't disturb her.

"What are you going to name that Buneary of yours?" I asked, the thought having come to my head.

"Hoolana!" Yamka cheered. "It's the name of a girl from a show I used to watch when I was a kid."

"What was it about?" I asked.

"You know what?" Yamka explained. "I can't quite remember, actually."


	10. Chapter 10, Bosol City

"Seventy-three?" Peter asked, dumbfounded. "You're kidding."

"Nope." I honestly responded. "Cinder and Siren had a good run, didn't they?"

Cinder gleefully nudged her head up against my neck, while Siren just grinned. They had their unique ways of communication, that much was for sure.

"A trip to the center, and we might be able to fight the Gym Leader before it gets too late." Tabitha explained.

"Sounds like a plan." Peter said. "I can't wait to give Skyies a test run."

"Skies?" Yamka asked.

"An Emolga he caught." Tabitha explained. "I didn't see anything appealing to me, so it's just Jane and I for now."

"Well, lets not taste any time standing around." Peter suggested, getting the group to trek into the darkened side of the route. The Pokemon swarming the route slowly thinned as we neared the end, and most of them were already heading off for a rest. I had to wonder if all the Pokemon Cinder and Siren beat up were okay, but I guess I had nothing to worry about.

Tabitha took out her Pokedex, upping its brightness to light our path. The decent was pinching off into a wall, with a few bats takin refuge above us. The light startled them, bit they just covered their eyes instead of retaliating. Yamka, however, might not have thought the same, once again grabbing hold of me. Perhaps she just wanted my affection, but even then, what did I have to complain about? The girl's touch was sweet, and her position wouldn't prevent us from heading into the path ahead, only a few meters wide at most. The cave was a bit more humid than Tu Decent, something Siren much appreciated. A few rusted lamps sat on the cave walls to provide just enough light to see where we were headed, and off in the distance, the sound of a harmonica could be heard.

"What's that music?" Yamka asked. With no answer to be given, the rest of us remained silent for the few moments before the path opened. The dimly lit cave housed a few structures housed on stilts above a small lake, all connected by odd pathways. The buildings had a very industrial taste to them in contrast with the swamp-like atmosphere. The lamps hung on the pathways didn't do them enough justice, clouding most of the city in darkness. But out of the two dozen or so buildings, I could see a red roofed one off in the distance.

We quickly made our way over there, traversing across the front steps of the stores and homes. There wasn't enough room to avoid doing so, since there wasn't a street; all the buildings were connected to each other and not to a central path. One of the houses we were forced to trespass upon housed an old woman playing the instrument we had heard before. Her eyes traced us as we passed, but thankfully no one stopped to talk to her. Her residence was the last step before the Pokemon Center.

Once inside, I could easily make out the resemblance to the other center. A large shop, a counter for healing up, and a notice board. Our group handed off our Pokemon to the nurse, who began to heal them as we took a look around. My focus was once again drawn to the notice board, and after a few moments I was able to find that same poster from before. This one, however, had a large tear in its bottom right corner, and it already looked a bit tattered and worn compared to the rest of the papers.

"Is this the same poster from before?" Yamka asked, coming up beside me.

"Yep." I replied. The girl examined it for a moment before pulling me away to the counter. The nurse handed me Siren, while Cinder crawled onto me out of her own will. Peter took the moment to release his new catch, a yellow and black squirrel, which I did not come across during our session earlier. It eyed Peter curiously before the man took hold of it, letting it lie on its stomach in his palm. Yamka also decided to take out the Buneary she had caught. The Pokemon immediately took notice to Peter's partner, but it did nothing about it, instead standing beside Santa.

"Really, Yamka?" Peter sighed.

"Hey!" Yamka yelled. "I like it. Don't get all sour! Tell you what, you can get a Mienfoo too, and we can match even more."

"I think I'll pass, thank you." Peter replied.

"Shall we be on our way?" I asked. Tabitha nodded, heading for the exit along with the rest of us. I took one last look at the notice before heading into the bog myself. We took a moment to look around for something unique. To our left was the entrance we had come from, while directly in front of us was a large, empty platform most likely used for camping. Yamka suddenly ran over to the corner of the center's porch, looking behind it.

"It's this way, guys!" The girl cheered, running off towards her find. The rest of us hurried as to not lose track of her, but thankfully she was going the right way. Two statues stood outside a rather large building in the corner of the city, so large that it connected into the cave wall. Once we arrived, I could clearly make out lines of text on the busts, confirming the building's purpose. Yamka stepped aside so Peter could open one of the double doors, but they did not budge. He tried a few times to open it, before knocking on the door.

"What business do ya have here?" Someone from the other side of the door asked.

"Is this the Pokemon Gym?" Peter asked.

"You'd better believe it." The man said.

"May we please come in?" Tabitha asked.

"Answer my question." He ordered.

"We're here to fight the gym leader." Peter responded.

"That ain't enough of a reason." The man replied.

"Wait." I said, stopping Peter from retaliating. "Fulla said to tell you that she said hi."

Immediately the door flew open, bashing Peter in the face. The man standing on the other side was wearing a coat a few sizes too big for him, a fedora, and a suit. His expression was one you would find on someone about to murder someone, and his attire matched that description pretty well. His hair was cut finely enough so that I couldn't see if from under the shadow of his hat. He opened his hands wide, walking out of the building.

"Ah, you met her?" He asked. "I gotcha. I was gonna see if 'chall had what it takes, but I'm fine with alternate approaches. The name's Michael. I'm the Gym Leader of Bosol here. A pleasure."

Michael took a hold of my hand to rigorously shake it, before turning back towards his gym.

"Come on in, lest the cops see us." Michael asked.

"Cops?" Yamka asked, following him in.

"It's a joke." Michael replied. "Folks often think the way I dress, talk, n' act is similah to a mafia man. I embrace it, 'cause it's a pretty good lens."

"It's something..." Peter groaned, collecting himself to join us. The inside of the gym wasn't anything normal, either. The entrance was a bar, which Michael leapt over to grab an empty glass. A gentle tone of jazz flowed through the dimly lit area, coming from one of the many different hallways going to who knows where. As I continued examining the room, my eyes came across two more figures, human in shape but definitely not completely.

They were canines, probably taller than us. Their claws sat on the bar table, and their lipsticked faces eyed Michael as he started to tap his fingers against the wood. Enormous ponytails of red and black flowed behind them, with blue bulbs holding them in place.

"So these guys have heard about Fulla?" One of the Pokemon asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Michael replied. "Come everyone, take a seat."

"Sure." Tabitha said, walking over to the bar. Each of us pulled out a seat, observing Michael and his Pokemon.

"What are your names?" Michael asked.

"I'm Nathan." I started, pointing to each of my friends. "And this is Yamka, Tabitha, and Peter."

"So, you folks want to get your first gym badge, right?" The other Pokemon asked.

"Let's not get too hasty, girls." Michael urged. "These are my Zoroark. The one closest to you's Emily, and my other fine lady is Grace."

"It's wonderful to meet you." Grace said.

"You look to be very good trainers, all of you." Emily added.

"So, how will this be done?" Tabitha asked. Michael grabbed hold of his hat, placing it on the table.

"Allow me to explain." Michael began. "You see, normal gym leaders do things with battling and such. A test of strength to see if you've gotten better, right? Vibreal doesn't roll that way."

"What do you mean?" Yamka asked.

"You folks aren't going to fight me the way you'd expect at another region, see?" Michael continued. "Instead, I'm giving you a challenge. See, a Mafioso is never alone. He's got his gang to back him up. And I'm no different."

Michael slipped his hand under the hat, pulling out a clock. He started to wind it as he continued talking.

"So imagine this scenario." He explained. "One of ya's managed to hunt down the ruthless Godfatha, the leader of organized crime for the entire region. He's somewhere in this buildin, and you gotta hunt him down and bring him to custody. But like I said, a Mafioso is never alone. He's got doppelgangers to distract you, and his buddies are swarming in to cover his back. If you take too long, you might not be able to fight them off..."

"A frantic chase for victory, eh?" Peter asked. "Sounds like fun."

"Indeed." Grace said. "Running away is a skill not practiced a lot, but it is needed. Sometimes your foe might be too strong, but you aren't obligated to stay and lose. Run away to live to fight another day, in hopes you can defeat that enemy eventually."

"And all of us will be doing a bit of running, it seems." Emily added.

"Anyways." Michael started. "You gotta corner me before time runs out, and my whole gang gets here. You've got ten minutes before that happens."

"That doesn't seem like a ton of time..." Yamka stated.

"Hey, if you try apply your wits and your skill, it shouldn't be a problem." Michael responded. "Just remember. Dis path isn't for everyone, and dis region isn't exactly the friendliest for the amatuer, trust me. But if you get through me, you'll be better than every other trainer in the world. Tell ya what, if you take me down before five, I'll treat those of ya who won to a special treat."

"Thanks." I said. "You're very kind."

"Don't thank me yet, boyo." Michael chuckled, moving out from behind the counter. His Pokemon also stood up, flanking him. "As the Gym Leader of Bosol City, it's mah job to make sure newbies like you are shown how rough the road ahead is. And I'll PERSONALLY see to it that you have an unpleasant experience, kapeesh?"

"Then let's get it over with." I said, stepping forward.

"Yeah! Show um what you got, Nathan!" Yamka cheered.

"You'll do a good job." Peter added.

"Make it quick, I want to get at him too." Tabitha added.

"Alright then." Michael laughed, crossing his arms. "Trainer Nathan versus Mafioso Michael."

His Pokemon suddenly spun around, shrouding themselves in darkness. When they finished the full rotation, the two of them now exactly resembled Michael. The three of them simultaneously reached into their pockets, pulling out shining gold pistols.

"Come get me, coppa!" The middle Michael yelled. The three of them pointed their guns to the ceiling, firing them. The bright flash of light nearly blinded me, but when it was over, the three of them were gone.

"Siren, Cinder." I said, getting the Pokemons' attention. "We got a manhunt on our hands." 


	11. Chapter 11, The Mafioso

My legs couldn't have carried me faster out of the bar. Where they were headed was a mystery even to me, but there was definitely a method behind the madness. Thankfully Cinder was wise enough to check behind me for any traces of movement as I scoured the building. The mazes of pathways and rooms that defined the space were most likely soley implemented to drive me up the wall in frustration, and they were succeeding at that. There were no traces of a man anywhere, let alone more than one.

"Vesta!" Cinder cried, causing me to bolt around. Unfortunately, she wasn't trying to tell me about one of the Michaels being behind me. Instead, a small, bipedal Pokemon with a red mohawk and a pair of yellow jeans stood there. It was probably no bigger than Siren, and that was being generous.

"A gang member?" I muttered under my breath. Apparently the creature caught wind of my question, and in the blink of an eye it lunged forward, slamming its fist into the wall. The dent it had made was right where Siren was only a moment before, and where she would've been if not for my near-instantaneous reaction. My next move was simple yet effective: to run as far away from our attacker as physically possible.

It was still in hot pursuit as I weaved my way around the rustic corridors and rooms with purposes ranging from sitting to dancing. There was no doubt about it, though: the Pokemon was gaining on us.

"Cinder, light the floor on fire behind us!" I quickly ordered. She obeyed, shooting her molten fireballs towards the wooden floors to send them ablaze. Our follower stopped, quickly look for a way to prevent the spread of the fire as we made our escape.

It didn't take long until I could no longer hear the crackling flames, be it that either I was too far away to hear them, or it had been extinguished. The fire was no longer my concern, though; I had found him.

I spotted the tail of the Gym Leader's coat swinging around a corner just in time to figure out his path. My feet picked up the pace as they swung around that same corner, finding Michael running away. I didn't know if it was one of his Zoroarks or even if he knew I was tailing him, but I didn't have the time or the patience to think about it..

Suddenly, Siren pulled herself away from my gloves, leaping towards the running man. Michael stepped inside just in time to avoid her attack, and Siren's attempts to fix the mistake did nothing: he was still just ahead of our grasp. As I ran past her, I grabbed hold of the fish again.

"A good try!" I yelled, refocusing my efforts on the current endeavor. Another corner was turned, and another, and soon I feared that I wouldn't be able to catch him. The sweat pouring down my face was a clear indicator of that, but it wasn't going to stop me when I was so close to getting him. I boosted myself into a sprint, and right before I had him, the man stopped. He immediately ran in the opposite direction, forcing me to put up my hands as I crashed into the wall. Cinder clung her body to my shoulder to prevent herself from doing the same, while Siren fell out of my grasp. Using the force of impact, she launched herself off the wall, this time hitting her mark. Michael was thrown onto the ground, dazed for a moment. When he recovered, he silently rolled Siren off of him to stand back up, trying to run away. Unfortunately for him, he could no longer do so. The man grabbed hold of his ankle, which had probably been sprained from the impact, and limped into a room to his right.

"Amazing job, Siren!" I cheered, running over to pick up the Feebas. She was breathing heavily, but still, her eyes looked up at me, wide with determination. I nodded before turning to the room, moving inside. The stacked shelves, overflowing books, and general look of untidyness communicated that it was a library, and an untidy one at that. With Michael not in sight, I set down Cinder in the doorframe, making sure that our target wouldn't be walking out of here without a fight. The Larvesta crawled her way up the frame to hang upside-down, her eyes scanning the room for Michael. With that covered, I slowed my steps to quietly move around the room.

You couldn't find a more tense moment if you tried. The small pats my shoes made against the ground were covering up his, which I was reassured of when I made random moment to stop walking, hearing the other man expose his steps. Hatching an idea, I started to walk in place, listening closely at the other man's movements. He continued to match my feigned tapping until he turned a corner to come face-to-face with me. Instantly he turned around, trying to sprint in the opposite direction only to fall flat on his face. In triumph I stepped around the corner, checking the surrounding area for any sign of one of the 'gang members' who could stop me. After completing my search, I stood over him.

"You're under arrest, criminal." I explained. The man flipped himself over, transforming himself to reveal one of the Zoroarks.

"Close, but no cigar..." She chuckled.

"I wasn't talking about you." I replied. My right hand folded in to hold Siren as my left extended towards the wall. My fingers closed to impact the man I had noticed hiding between the shelves right between the eyes. The punch slammed his head against the shelf, and instantly the man fell to the ground, holding his head in pain.

"Was that... really... necessary?" Michael asked, rubbing his forehead.

"I just felt like doing it, honestly." I replied.

"Emily..." Michael coughed. "Don't lead him to where I'm hiding..."

"How was I supposed to know you were in here?!" Emily yelled.

"Gah... I guess yer right." Michael responded, getting to his feet. "Well, coppah, you got me."

"I think he made the five-minute goal." Emily added.

"Yer the first person whose made that mark, congrats." Michael chuckled. "I need to step up mah game next time..."

"You put me through quite the run, I have to say." I replied.

"It shoulda been more of a challenge." Michael explained.

"He would've gotten you eventually." Emily said. "That fish of his is ludicrously strong."

"I bet he would've. Maybe burnt up the place a bit more, but whatevah." Michael responded. He reached into his coat, pulling out a small object. It was a small metal object, painted brown and yellow in the shape of a cigar. He held it out to me, grinning.

"Dis is my gift to you." Michael cheered. "As da first Gym Leader of Vibreal, I'd like ta present you with da Mobster Badge. It'll tell the others that you got quick witts and feet. And a bitta luck. Hopefully ya friends'll put up as good of a show as you did. And hopefully dey don't nail me as hard."

"Sorry, and thank you." I replied, taking the badge. I showed the object to Cinder, who nuzzled her face against it for some reason. I patted the caterpillar on the back for a job well done. Moving to congratulate Siren, I held her out in front of me.

However, the hug I wanted to give her was interrupted by the sight of a large line of red liquid trailing out of one of her sides. Instantly I shifted my focus to Michael and Emily as the sweat began to return.

"How do I get out of here, and fast?!"


	12. Chapter 12, Darker Endeavors (MxFxFxM)

"...and then he ran into the bedroom, and I just stood in the door until he gave up!" Yamka cheered, showing me her copy of the badge.

"That's great, Yamka." I responded, giving a fiend congratulatory smile to her. I wasn't in the mood for her cheeriness; I had someone else to worry about right now. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to watch the nurse examine Siren much longer. Thankfully the woman decided to talk with the newly victorious Peter and Tabitha instead.

"Ey, Nathan!" Michael yelled, catching my attention. The gym leader had just entered the building, the smug look on his face having been banished away.

"Yes?" I replied, pulling myself away from the counter. Michael reached into his coat pocket to pull out the gun he had used earlier.

"Dis is my blank shoota." Michael explained. "I like tah use it to get in theme, but as it turns out, my partner's one is the one responsible for this mess."

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"Your fish tackled Emily in the hallways. She hides the gun in her tie-back 'cause Pokemon don't have pockets. She must have cut herself on it."

"Okay."

"Look, man. I'm real sorry dat it when down dis way. I lost my edge fightin' your friends."

"It's not your problem, it was an accident."

"Look, kid."

Michael concealed his fake weapon, walking up to the nurse's counter.

"What's da damages?" He asked. The woman quickly finished doing something before greeting the guest.

"The cut the Feebas has sustained is very clean." She replied. "Too clean. I'll have to heal her overnight, but expect a scar."

"A scar is fine." I said. "As long as she's okay."

"Hey, remember that bonus I offered ya?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, I do." I answered.

"Well, consider this a modification of that bonus." Michael started. "You and yer friends get ta stay at ta gym for the night. My girls and I don't live der ourselves, but it's better than camping out here."

"I'm fine with that." I replied.

"If he's okay with it, so am I." Peter added.

"And me." Tabitha added.

"I don't want to be all alone, so yeah, I'll go!" Yamka cheered.

"Let's get going, then." Michael urged. "It's getting late out."

Michael turned to the exit, followed by the rest of my friends. I too decided to join their march, but something stopped me. I instinctively turned around, moving around the counter to look over the injured Feebas. She didn't appear to be in any sort of pain, still staring at me in wonder. I reached around my neck to pull off the piece of jewelry, placing it around her. The watery gems no longer drew her attention, her gaze still fixated on me.

"I'll come back for you." I whispered. "I promise."

The gym proved to have even more rooms than I previously expected. They made me wonder how the leader managed to get so much expensive furniture to dress the rooms he had just left four strangers and their Pokemon in for the night. The gift was an okay distraction to the worry still in the back of my mind. Speaking of distractions, only one of these rooms would find a use for us tonight.

The only room in the gym with a pair of beds that were so large they couldn't even be described as kings were the destination tonight. An iron chandelier with dimly lit candles set a soothing glow for the area. While our Pokemon would be in the nearby room, in something a bit darker for their sleep to succeed, this is where the four of us would be staying for the night.

"What gorgeous looking beds." Tabitha said, eyeing the furniture. Yamka walked over to one of them, lying across it while expelling a great sigh.

"There's only two of them though." I commented. Apparently what I had said was not correct, as Tabitha quickly made her way over to me to slap me in the face. Fortunately for the two of us, it reminded me of what I had said wrong.

"I'm not sure if you're joking or not..." Peter chuckled. "But Tabitha certainly doesn't think so."

"I had forgotten over the fact that, you know, the battle and Siren getting hurt." I replied.

"Oh my goodness, I didn't think about that! I'm so sorry!" Tabitha yelled, cupping her mouth.

"Did you really forget, or are you just saying that to try to cheer me up?" I asked.

"I seriously forgot. I'm so sorry, Nathan." Tabitha sighed. "I messed things up before we even got to try..."

"Hey, I just forgot about doing this in the first place, it's no problem."

"But you had a reaso-"

I stopped her complaining the only way that I should've: gently raising her face into mine. The touch of my fingers had already told her enough, as when the two of us collided, she was already prepared for me. Tabitha was calm in her motions, preferring to gently press herself against me instead of going for a more wild approach. My lips copied hers, working on perfecting our connection as much as they could. They wouldn't have much time, though, as Tabitha released herself from me, her tongue going limp on the way out as a last hurrah to our moment.

"Peter, darling~!" Yamka cooed, reminding me of the other couple's presence.

"Coming!" Peter shouted back, leaping onto the bed beside the girl.

"Give her a good time, Nathan!" Yamka cheered.

"Same goes for you, girl!" Tabitha happily replied. The woman reached down for her jeans, pulling the zipper open, while her other hand brought up her shirt. Underneath them was a rainbow colored bra and similarly colored panties.

"What an odd color choice." I joked, getting myself fully undressed.

"What~!" Tabitha cooed. "I thought you would've loved to taste the rainbow."

"I'm more interested in digging into the gold." I said, making the woman laugh. She was much more seductive with her happiness when compared to Yamka's giggling.

"Well, it's all yours." Tabitha replied, taking my hand as we walked over to the bed. Her loosened clothes fell off her as she walked, leaving only the bright gradient of colors behind. It tried to offer her a seat on the fluffy blankets, but she had other plans in mind. Her hands pushed my hips down, forcing me to take a seat. With no time to waste, she took my entire flaccid penis into her lips. Tabitha didn't bother with trying to play with it; just the warm cavern that started to drip strands of saliva began to get my length into action, steadily expanding it. When it had reached its full size, Tabitha locked her lips around the base to drag them across me, her tongue rubbing my underside as the woman travelled all the way up to the beginning. With just the tip in her grasp, she poked her tongue at it, playing with my urethra to send shivers racing over my body.

"You're really good at this." I swooned. Tabitha released me, pumping my saliva-coated length to address me.

"While I was training earlier, I took some time to look up the best ways to do this." Tabitha explained. "I can't help but feel like my night with Peter left him a bit unsatisfied."

"Don't you dare say that!" Peter yelled, his eyes only visible from just above Yamka's naked thigh. "You were wonderful. Please, enjoy yourself!"

"Yeah, Tabby!" Yamka cheered as Peter returned to her pie. "Tell you what, if you do a good job, the four of us can all have some action together tonight! Doesn't that sound like fun?!"

"Yeah, it does." Tabitha replied. "But please don't call me that."

"Why don't you like Tabby?" I asked, holding her chin up to me. "I think it's a wonderfully cute name for a wonderfully cute gal."

"It's too cute..." Tabitha sighed. "It makes me feel like I'm being played with. I want to be treated like a lover, not a toy for someone's amusement..."

"I don't think you're a toy." I replied. "Remember all those times people would make fun of me because I didn't have a Pokemon, but you'd always be there to defend me, even though you didn't either?"

"They only took my word because of how I look."

"The point is that if anyone's going to be a toy here, it's me. And if it makes you feel better, I'll never call you Tabby again. Or you can come up with a name for me."

"You know... I never thought that I'd told to be more confident while sucking a guy's dick."

"Does that mean you're going to stop."

"How cute of you to think that."

Tabitha reached around her back, undoing her bra's tie to let it gently fall away from her breasts. They were quite a bit larger than Yamka's; the perfect size to cradle my penis in their softness. And that was exactly the treatment they'd be getting, except with the added bonus of my tip being played with some more as the girl playfully licked it. Tabitha decided to get a bit more adventurous, grabbing hold of her boobs to forcefully squeeze them against me, dragging them down my dick before finally letting up for the sole purpose of deepthroating me at that moment. The beautiful motion of her teasing got better each time, as Tabitha started rubbing her tongue, twisting her neck, and tightening her pressing on me.

"Can I~?" I whined, making Tabitha breathe a heavy sigh onto me.

"Yes, you can~" Tabitha cooed, mixing up her motions to slide her left breast up and the other down.

"I love you Tabby!" I swooned, unable to contain my excitement any longer.

"Oh." Tabitha replied. "I... thank you. I love you too, Nathan."

I smiled, fighting the intense urge to let her keep going to guide her to the fun part. I lowered my head, moving to grab her hand.

That was the plan, anyway. What was not the plan was the shadowy figure standing directly behind the woman, looking down at me.

"...not forget her." The shadow gargled. The creature reached over Tabitha, unfolding its twisted fingers. The necklace I had left with Siren fell onto the bed beside me, completely unchanged. With that done, the Phantom withdrew its hand, pointing at the necklace and nodding.

"Who the fuck are you?" I whispered, getting no reaction from the creature.

"Say again?" Tabitha asked as her lips popped off, looking up at me with a confused smile. My eyes darted between her and the phantom, who placed its hand over its mouth in an attempt to shut me up.

"T-turn around." I stuttered. The creature shook its head before fading into the air right before Tabitha could turn around.

"What is it?" Tabitha asked. "I don't see anything."

"I thought I saw Cinder back there for a second." I lied, choosing to postpone the fiasco for later. "Whatever. What do you say we get to the main act?"

"But you haven't even nutted yet..." Tabitha cooed.

"I need to have some stamina left over for when we all get together." I explained, sliding my hands under the girl's arms. Tabitha submitted to my touch, letting me hoist her up onto the bed beside me.

"Okay..." Tabitha said. "But only if you do me a request later tonight."

"Sure." I responded, not thinking too much about it. I couldn't help but think about the phantom and what he had done. But then I remembered that Tabitha was my main focus for now, and that those concerns needed to be silenced for the moment. With a newly cleared mind I watched as Tabitha laid herself on the dark colored sheets, her head resting on a large pillow as she spread the rest of her body for me to see. When her legs parted, I knew for sure what she wanted me to do. I grabbed hold of my dick, pressing it up against the rainbow fabric. It was definitely silk, somewhat unfitting compared to the clothes they were concealed under. That wouldn't matter one damned bit, though, because there weren't going to be any jeans in this town. I slid myself against her, making the girl softly moan to the massage my penis was giving her through the panties.

Not wanting to tease her too much, however, I undid the ties on the sides of the fabric, pulling it off of her. With that gone, I climbed my way over the woman, letting her place her hands around my back while I lined us up.

"You'll be doing the work, huh?" Tabitha asked.

"I don't mind it, and besides, I can go as fast as I want." I replied. "Not too fast, of course."

"Thank you." Tabitha responded. "Now go ahead."

The wetness was immediate and embracing as I pushed my way inside her. The girl's entire body was already warm from anticipation, and her moist cavern's heat welcomed me in. I took so much time appreciating the tight squeeze that I didn't notice that I couldn't go any further. Not because she was a virgin, not because I had hilted myself in her, but because the woman's huge chest wasn't letting me go down anymore.

"Ah~!" Tabitha cried. "I'm really sensitive there!"

"You mean with these things?" I asked, swirling my stomach around, grinding her nipples against my chest. She loudly squealed in ecstasy, tightening her walls to get a reaction out of me, too. I leaned away from her, making sure her moment was made even better by rapidly pushing an inch or so in and out as fast as I possibly could. My ball sack loudly slapped against her, filling the room with the sounds of flesh against flesh.

Deciding not to waste any more time, I pulled myself away from the girl, grabbing her thighs to give myself more leverage. Without her massive chest to stop me, I quickly drilled into her at full force, the two of us loudly moaning. Her arms flopped onto the sides of her body, her face locking on a lust-filled smile. Her breasts jiggled around as I continued my work, and the sounds only got louder as our bodies became soaked in sweat.

"Nathan, I'm cumming!" Tabitha cried, squeezing her breasts.

"Go for it!" I replied, putting in all of my effort to go as fast as possible. The slapping grew louder, drowning out any hopes of the other couple being heard. A burning sensation started to form, quickly growing to build up to my release.

"Tabby, I'm going to cum with you!" I yelled.

"Yes! Ahhhhh~!" Tabitha cried, her pussy constricting me almost immediately. I pushed my way through the delicious orgasm to plant my own, The wave of sperm surfed its way up my shaft, directly into the womb my substance wouldn't be impregnating. With all the work I had done yesterday, I really shouldn't have been able to gift her with as much seed as I did, not that I was complaining.

"It's so waaaarm~!" Tabitha cooed, opening her thighs even more to prevent the semen from leaking out. I reached down to plant a kiss on her nipple, giving the other a swirl with my finger.

"I'm glad you like it, Tabby." I replied. "Who did the better job, would you say?"

"You both make me regret not doing this sooner..." Tabitha answered. "But I don't have a favorite out of my lovers..."

"Speaking of other lovers!" Yamka cheered, reminding me that our fun was not yet over. Suddenly the other bed was pushed against ours by Peter, who was smiling all the while. Yamka was still lying on it, and Peter quickly jumped on next to her.

I pulled myself out of Tabby, the strands of cum finally able to leak out onto the sheets. With us no longer connected, the woman got up to look at the others, acting as if a pool of love juice wasn't seeping out of her.

"So what do you guys have in mind?" Yamka asked.

"Well, I got Nathan to accept a little deal of mine, so he's on board for my idea." Tabitha answered.

"Well, so am I." Peter replied. "What do we do?"

"Alright." Tabitha started. "Nathan, I want you to lie down on the middle, like normal."

"Okay." I replied, following her instructions. I set myself down, and Tabitha decided to give me a small handjob to make sure I didn't start slacking off on her.

"Yamka, go ahead and take him." Tabitha ordered.

"Okay!" Yamka cheered, scooting over to me. She got up, spreading her legs to the side to get on top of me. Since she was already in the mood, Yamka quickly decided to divine into me immediately, shafting herself while filling my ears with that familiar giggling.

"Hey, Nathan~!" Yamka cooed.

"What, love?" I asked.

"I remembered something I wanted to try with you guys. Mind if I give it a shot?"

"Go for it."

"Yay! You'll love it as much as I will, I promise!"

Yamka got up, grabbing hold of my penis before it slapped the mixture of cum and douche all over me. She then sat back down, but not in the way I was expecting. The woman had graciously given me the pleasure of diving into her scrumptious ass, which while not as moist as the girls' pussies, was still something to behold. Her walls were almost too tight, and the feeling of the intruder in her back entrance only made that get better and better. If not for the viel of sexual fluids surrounding my length, she might've gotten hurt.

"Ahah!" Yamka cried. "I was wrong! This is way better than I expected!"

"You're telling me!" I yelled back at her.

"Okay, glad you two are having a blast. Now, if you don't mind..." Tabitha commented. The sight of Yamka's cherry-colored face was blocked by Tabitha's body as she climbed over me, her folds hovering just above my head. I found that the strands of my cum were still dripping out of her, seeping down onto my face along with some of the girl's own juices. After a brief moment of hesitation, I started licking up what I could. The stuff tasted fruity and sweet, packed with a large amount of salt to give it a kick. Even though it wasn't the best, that didn't stop me from getting seconds. And thirds.

Tabitha slapped her ass, making even more of the cum drip out of her for my attention.

"Hey, Peter~" Tabitha cooed. "I think there's room in here for a bit more. Would you mind filling up the rest of the jar?"

"I'd be happy to." Peter replied, getting behind Tabitha. He plunged himself into the girl's pussy, expelling a large chunk of sperm to coat my face. I couldn't help but laugh, licking up what I could as more kept coming as the two started their pounding. Yamka started her bouncing, her ass proving to be more and more of a heaven as she continued on. The girl started to grind herself against me, her body shivering to make the experience even more beautiful.

Suddenly, Tabitha brought her tongue up against our connection, lapping at the girl's behind, my shaft, and the still soaked pussy of the other woman. Deciding to return the favor, I lifted my head to attend to Tabitha's lovemaking. The thought of licking another guy didn't bother me; it was worth it right now. I started actively seeking out the strands of cum that managed to escape their pounding, and once all the treasure I could find was gone, I started licking up Tabitha's juices and Peter's precum. His taste was more distinguishable than mine, having a bit of a tang to it. I traded it for some of my saliva, making his job even smoother.

"Thanks for the help, Nate!" Peter shouted. "Your tongue feels good!"

"I really should feel uncomfortable about that." I answered, taking a huge lick of exclusively his length. "But I don't seem to are much anymore."

"Yay!" Yamka cheered. "Whoever said we can't all love each other?"

"Are you saying you like me too?" Tabitha asked.

"Of course I do!" Yamka replied. "Gimme a kiss, girl!"

I twisted my head around to get a view of the two women making out, and what a sight it was. The womens' hair mixed and mingled around as they pressed against each other. Both of them started to tug and squeeze on their partner's breasts, doing things only another female could think of doing.

"Hey, Peter." I said.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"I'm not much of a guy kisser."

"Neither am I."

"What can we do instead, to return the favor?"

"Well, I think I know something."

Peter backed away from Tabitha, his length dangling below her. I quickly moved back under the two of them, looking up at the man's penis.

"Your cum has made things a bit too smooth." Peter replied. "Could you clean me off?"

"Sure thing." I replied. I gently grabbed him, lowering his tip into my mouth. Just as the girls were doing, I did everything I knew that I liked to him: I dragged my tongue along his underside as I lapped up every drop I could from his shaft.

"Wow..." Peter moaned. "You sure you haven't done this before?"

"I'm sure." I responded, releasing his dick to pump it a few times. With that done, I pushed it back inside Tabitha, helping the two of them get started before returning to my meal. Yamka started to pick up the pace, too, and the familiar feeling of Tabitha's breasts sliding against the parts of my shaft not drilled into the other woman was a quite the gift indeed. When Peter removed his hands from Tabitha's hips to attend to the other girl's breasts, that was it. We weren't pairs or a few connections anymore. Every single person was showing their love to the other three, and without any need on anyone's parts. When everyone got their Pokemon into the action, I couldn't help but hope all the trainers could still do this together. Maybe we could find a way to fit everyone in like this, but I guess that a hot woman's ass grinding against my dick whilst another gave it a titjob while I licked at the later being fucked by a man made me want everything to be like this.

"I'm reaching my end, guys!" Peter yelled.

"You go right ahead!" Tabitha happily replied. Peter quickly gained a burst of speed, driving every single person into frantic lustful laughter, before driving his entire length into Tabitha, making the girl scream in delight. The force of Peter's movement drove her breasts against my shaft to bring my second climax out, too, splashing semen into Yamka's behind as the woman straddled me as hard as she could. Cum started dripping out of Tabitha's pussy, which I quickly dealt with as quickly as I could. Yamka pulled herself off me before the mass of cum proved to be too much for her, as the woman dumped what she had collected back onto me before getting off of me.

Tabitha quickly followed, falling to her side as Peter continued to fire his load. He immediately dove forward, locking his lips over my shaft as I did the same to him. The two of us continued shooting strands into each other's mouths for almost half a minute, and when his dick finally stopped pulsating, I gulped down all of the tangy substance before dragging my mouth off of him with a loud pop. Peter released his own grip, but since he hadn't downed my cum, when the man opened his mouth he spilled his massive cheek full of cum back onto my dick.

"Peter..." Tabitha sighed. "You're gonna let that all go to waste."

"Fine, I'll fix my mistake." Peter replied, shifting his body around so I could see his head. Before he could begin to consume the globs of cum, the two girls got to his sides, joining him. Without another word, the three of them began to drink up the hot, sticky fluids. The sight of the two beautiful women and a man of all things drove my heart into the stars. When they were finally finished, Yamka and Tabitha moved to my sides, with Peter beside Yamka. The three of us had the stench of sex all over us, and the appearance to boot. Cum and vaginal fluids soaked our crotches, mouths, and bodies, and all of us were still completely naked, not even daring to pull a cover over us.

"That was... amazing." I sighed.

"Something like this is really rare, I bet," Peter explained. "And I wonder if there will ever be a quartet as sincere as us."

"I'd like to see it happen." Tabitha added.

"If this is a dream, I don't ever want to wake up..." Yamka swooned.

"No, it's all real, I promise." I replied. "Goodnight everyone."

"Night, loves." Peter replied.

"Thanks for such a good time." Tabitha added.

"You guys are the best... night." Yamka cooed.

"Oh, and in the morning..." I started, drifting off into my slumber. "There's something I want to tell you guys..."


End file.
